


Origins

by kwritten



Series: Noona-verse [1]
Category: Brown Eyed Girls, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Infinite (Band), K-POP RPF, K-pop, Miss A
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-25
Updated: 2015-03-12
Packaged: 2017-12-03 14:17:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 42,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/699155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kwritten/pseuds/kwritten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Dawn Summers crashes into a boy in the hallway and finds herself swept up in a new world.</p><p>Kpop RPF/BtVS crossover</p><p>post-Chosen AU set in Sunnydale</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In which Dawn Summers crashes into a wall named Kim Myungsoo and her breath is taken away

**Author's Note:**

  * For [penny_lane_42 (Lirazel)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lirazel/gifts), [aerintine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aerintine/gifts), [vergoldung](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vergoldung/gifts).



Dawn waved goodbye to her sister one last time, turning every few paces to still see her sister standing there, her arms folded and a soft smile on her face, and looked down to fondle her new cell phone with her thumb, turning a corner and — WHAM!

Dawn looked up from her new position on the floor, her books and new pens scattered, her brand new phone already a little scuffed, and saw a boy just standing there, his face somewhat blank. He seemed to barely register that she had crashed - full-bodied - right into him. Either he was incredibly strong or just daft, she couldn’t tell.

“Sorry!” she said up to him as she scrambled to pick up her things. Not that he noticed, not that he even really looked down at her. What kind of freak just stands there like that without moving?! Dawn stood and looked the boy right in the face, ready to tell him off.

Only his face took her breath away. Yeah - he was somehow still completely oblivious or completely uncaring about her presence less than two feet from him - but he was stunning. Dawn shifted from foot to foot. “Um… I’m sorry for crashing into you.” She chewed her lip, “I’m Dawn. Dawn Summers… um?” She extended her hand and he actually looked down at it, and at her, confusedly.

Suddenly two boys swooped in on either side. The taller one (Dawn was so dazed this was at first the only distinguishing characteristic between the three) put his right arm around the silent wall and shook him, “Kim Myungsoo - you dork - wake up! A pretty girl is trying to say hello to you!” And then he winked good gods above and below he winked and Dawn felt as though she’d swoon right then and smiled at her. Kim Myungsoo blinked at her and bowed slightly, “Annyong.”

The boy on her left smiled at her and shrugged at him companions, holding out his hand: “I’m Sunjong, this is Sungyeol,” he nodded towards the taller boy, “And that is Myungsoo.” He shoved the wall (who was now completely absorbed in his companion, playing with the boy’s backpack and staring up at him, his eyes suddenly and finally taking in his surroundings … not that she could blame him for ignoring her in the presence of that).

She nodded, “I’m Dawn.”

“Forgive him, please,” the taller one (Sungyeol?!) said with a smile that smile made Dawn’s stomach drop to her knees. “We’re all still a little… um… shellshocked?”

The wall blinked at her for the first time, “Everything’s still really new here.”

He said it without context, but Dawn nodded, “I understand.” She instinctively reached out to touch the boy’s arm, to connect with him since he seemed so lost in himself.

She heard in their voices the bright tinge of an accent, the way their mouths shaped themselves over the English words was still new - a little fresh and with a sense of discomfort.

They weren’t the only huddle of shy, misplaced students in the hallway. It was the first day of a new school, nothing about them was out of place. Everyone was new. In addition, the Korean population in Sunnydale seemed to have boomed over night. Business was never better for Giles’ shop, for many brought with them sensibilities and superstitions long since neglected by those long in a world that rejected old-held beliefs. Most of the immigrants were students at the University, taking advantage of a new outreach program the UC Sunnydale’s board had concocted. There were a few families here and there, but Dawn hadn’t really anticipated anyone near her age.

Also all three were disgustingly attractive.

The wall (Myungsoo, she told herself) grabbed her hand fiercely as the youngest - Sungjong - snatched the schedule right out of her hand. As Myungsoo clung to her with a derpy grin on his face (she tried to take that as a good sign), Sungjong muttered over her schedule. “Okay kids - you all have the start of the day together on the other side of campus. I’ll see you at lunch.” He nodded to Dawn as he passed off her schedule to the taller boy and sauntered off down the hallway. Sungyeol yipped and grinned, his arm still around Myungsoo - who was still tethered to Dawn’s hand - it was all rather endearing and a little overwhelming, “He’s right, we have our first three classes together.”

And then he turned on his heel and started walking decidedly down the hall, her schedule still in his hand. He walked like a runway model. It was disconcerting.

Myunsoo cocked his head at her for a moment and then spun her around, pulling her arm through his as though he was a gentleman leading her into a ballroom. “Well,” he said shyly as they scrambled to catch up to Sungyeol’s long stride, “Ready for class?”

She laughed and squeezed his hand, “Now.”


	2. In which Dawn Summers heart breaks for a boy she just met in the middle of a high school hallway

Her first three periods pass by in a blur. What she’ll remember later is Myungsoo sitting behind her in every class so that he can play with her hair, holding on to her hand for dear life as they try to keep pace with Sungyeol as they dash to class (though she’s figured out within a few moments that he’d probably hold her hand in the hallways anyway), and his laughter shooting out from behind her anytime Sungyeol does anything remotely funny. What she remembers is how Sungyeol’s eyes follow her to her seat, how he sits next to her – scooting his chair closer to hers to whisper little jokes during class, his eyes dancing, his mouth widening into a gummy smile, how quick and witty he is, how attentive to Myungsoo – always delivering each joke to them both, encouraging the other boy to answer questions and speak up. She adapts to them so quickly it seems impossible, noting when Myungsoo’s mind is wandering and he needs to be pulled back, recognizing when Sungyeol’s charm and humor are a little too forced and desperate. She learns these things in just a few short hours.

Fourth period and she is alone, dropping the boys at their classroom door and crossing the hall to her English class. It’s California. It’s 2000. The new principle is rather progressive, too. Sunnydale High now has a separate class for English-learners. And even though Dawn is sure that all three of them could handle  _Hamlet_  with far more ease than most of their classmates (for Sungjong is there, leaning up against a locker with his phone in his hand, completely oblivious to the herd of sophomore girls giggling five paces behind him), she had enrolled in all Honors classes that year (just like every other year). So even if the boys had been placed in the “regular” English class, they still wouldn’t be together.

She stands in the doorway to the classroom and pulls back for a moment ignoring the other students who push past her, waiting to listen to the muffled sound of Sungyeol’s voice telling a joke across the hall. She doesn’t turn to look right away, just listens. She can’t actually understand a word he is saying – he’s too far away for one, the din of the hallway for another, but more importantly he’s speaking in Korean. It’s a joke just for his companions. And she knows because of the tone in his voice, the soft lilt that breaks through his enthusiasm that screams: “look, listen. I’m here.” So she listens. Even if she can’t understand a word.

And most people wouldn’t understand that Dawn would care about something so silly and so slight as a joke a boy she only just met is telling someone else ten feet away.

Only that lilt – that little push – she  _knows_  that and it hits her right in her gut.

 Because even though in the past three months, she has stopped feeling like the smallest Summers, the girl who will never be brave, who will always be ignored. She has stopped feeling responsible for her sister’s death, her rebirth, for Willow’s addiction, for her mother’s death, for Spike’s disappearance, for Giles leaving, for Anya’s broken heart…  She still isn’t a full “Scooby” and there’s a small part of her that still feels bitter and wants to whine to her mommy about that. Only there’s no one to complain to. And anyway, she’s getting too old to complain about being ignored. It’s just not easy being the younger sister to a Slayer. Epic calling and story and all that. And she’s just a little sister who maybe used to be a Key but isn’t very much of anything anymore but a normal girl. Who is only really three years old and sometimes that feels so true the whole world spins out of her grasp. Who is actually ancient and sometimes that feels so weighing the whole world is too bright and harsh and close. Who gets frustrated some times. Who wants attention. Who has to remember that she’s not a little kid anymore.

So she stands still in the hallway and listens to a joke without turning around because even if he never knows,  _someone_  should stand still and listen to him when he needs it so desperately.

Sungjong’s response is dry and slightly sarcastic, just a little severe. Myungsoo’s laughter overtakes everything, though. Dawn turns to watch the three walk into their classroom, Sungjong leading the way with his nonchalant and secure walk, Sungyeol still beaming from his own joke, and Myungsoo tagging along behind.  On his face is the most disturbingly open, twitterpated expression.

His heart is right there – not even on his sleeve (which is the only proper place for something so fragile) – but just there on his face. For the whole world to see. As if he didn’t care who knew what could hurt him the most.

Dawn fights the urge to walk over and grab the boy by the shoulders and shake him. She’s blown away by his complete lack of self-preservation. _Damnit Myungsoo¸_ she thinks.  _You can’t just walk around looking at him like that. Don’t you know how to keep anything inside?_  Not everyone grows up on a Hellmouth. Not everyone would feel so genuinely concerned for a derpy-faced seventeen year old boy.

_But Dawn Summers did grow up on a Hellmouth. And for all that she is very brave and sometimes much stronger than people give her credit for and even though she is very young and sometimes does not protect her own heart the way she should: seeing another’s heart so exposed and so easily broken made her wish she knew how to protect something so fragile as a human heart. One doesn’t grow up the sister of a warrior without learning a little bit about knowing who needs protection. One doesn’t grow up surrounded by knights of old without wanting a cause worth fighting for._

And then all three of them disappear and the door closes and somewhere a bell rings and there’s Dawn Summers, standing alone in the hallway of Sunnydale High, and possibly a teacher is calling her name, but she’s still trying to piece back together her heart. 


	3. In which Dawn Summers has lunch, misses a joke, becomes Prince Sungyeol’s pet, and meets someone new

Dawn Summers stood in the hallway awkwardly. Next to her, a group of girls from her English class chattered loudly about class assignments and schedules and weekend plans. She wasn’t sure why they had stopped, really –right there, with the quad to their right and the cafeteria to the left. They probably needed a leader, she mused. Someone with the gumption to decide where they were going to sit for the rest of the year; they were all waiting for the jocks and popular kids to decide where they were going before making a decision. It could be disastrous. And it wasn’t anything anyone would really say aloud.

(She was not scanning the crowd for a tall boy with long hair; she was not looking for the boy who spent the whole morning playing with her hair; or that boy with a smirk and swagger that she could never tell if it was directed towards her… she was not.)

In her hand was a retro Star Trek lunch box Xander had brought over that morning filled with… well… she hadn’t looked yet… But it was most likely filled with a myriad of bachelor snacks that would not constitute as a proper lunch. She held the box with pride, retro-geek was in? (Geek was still in, right?)

(It wouldn’t matter in the end.)

For right when Dawn was about ready to storm away from the giggling girls and eat lunch alone, an arm snaked around her waist and a throaty voice near her ear said, “What’re you doing here alone? Prince Sungyeol is waiting.”

And then Sungjong is steering her out into the quad (and doesn’t it just make sense that they would want to be outside) towards a table at the far end next to a patch of grass where Sungyeol is bouncing a soccer ball back and forth on his knees. Sungjong plops himself down at the table (somehow making such a careless movement look so graceful), pulling out of his bag what looks like three small boxes as Dawn eases herself down beside him.

Sungyeol leans over and snatches the pink, round boxy-thing from Sungjong and grins a big gummy smile. Sungjong mutters something in Korean, which only makes Sungyeol’s smile broader (though Dawn notices a little flush in his cheeks as he opens the box). Inside the box is what Dawn can only presume is rice and vegetables, but nothing else she can distinguish – it all looks a little too pretty to eat. As Sungyeol starts to fill the air with anecdotes from their day in between bites of food, she peers over and notices that Sungjong’s food is much more plain and ordinary in comparison to Sungyeol’s elaborate looking lunch.

Myungsoo skulks up a few moments later, accompanied by a small girl in a slightly oversized jean jacket, who chatters to his silence as they walk across the quad. He introduces to her as Suji – a sophomore, Dawn guesses. They sit at the other end of the table and talk quietly together occasionally under Sungyeol’s antics, Suji sneaking glances at Dawn from under long eyelashes and smiling as Myungsoo laughs hysterically at every single one of Sungyeol’s bad jokes, slurping down noodles messily. Sungjong seems completely absorbed in his phone (and completely oblivious to the herd of girls sitting at the nearest table, obviously angling for his attention).

Dawn looks down at her lunch box and opens it. She was right: a pudding cup, an opened box of Milk Duds, a bag of Cheetos, a few mealy baby carrots in a plastic bag, a handful of Jolly Ranchers, and a large chocolate chip cookie. And a note from Xander and Buffy on a yellow Post-It: “Hope you’re having a great first day!!!!! XOXO” She stares down at the food and mentally takes note: she has an apple stashed in her locker and about $3.50 in her pocket, she could probably go grab a sandwich from the cafeteria if she…

“Sunbae-nim!” Suji bursts out, pointing to Dawn’s lunchbox. “What is that?!?”

Dawn looks down at the opened box and laughs, “Something that someone thought was lunch.”

Sungyeol sits next to her, facing her as he straddles the bench with his long legs, one sneaking under hers and as the other presses into her back, and puts his arm around her shoulder, “Who would think that this is lunch?”

(Of course as he says it, he snatches the box of Milk Duds and pops one into his mouth. Of course, as he does this, Dawn doesn’t feel the need to stop him.)

“My—” Dawn stutters a little. How does one explain Xander? “I guess you could call him… he’s like my brother?”

They all nod seriously as if with that one word she explained the universe.

Suji extends her little box of food (as ornately made as Sungyeol’s) with a shy smile, “You can share my lunch, sunbae.”

And of course Dawn can’t get over the fact that for whatever reason, this little girl has completely forgotten her name. So it takes her a minute to process the offer. Or Myungsoo’s face as he stares down at his noodles, mentally calculating how much he can spare. “No – that’s okay. I can just grab a sandwich from the cafeteria.”

Sungjong snorts. Sungyeol’s arm holds her in place as he reaches for his box and chopsticks. “No, you’ll share my lunch. Hyung always makes too much, anyway.”

And when he blushes at Sungjong’s next indiscernible comment, throwing a swift kick in his direction, Dawn feels as though she’s missing out on some delicious joke.

But before she’s able to really ask anyone what the hell is going on, Sungyeol plops a large helping of rice into her mouth, and somewhere Suji is giggling and Sungjong is protesting…

And that is how Dawn Summers ends up being hand-fed an entire lunch by four very insistent and ridiculous Koreans.


	4. In which Dawn Summers almost kills her self-named best friend, is over exposed, called a writer, and definitely does not cry

“Excuse me! But this girl would like to add the class!”

Dawn tugged against Sungyeol ineffectively (she fought vampires with a Slayer on the weekend but couldn’t detach her arm from one skinny boy’s grasp?) as an entire class of students stared at her.

They were in the theater and Sungyeol had drug her all the way down the aisle to where a tall man wearing glasses was sitting, his legs swinging over the edge of the stage. He reminded her distantly of Giles – but only in a very vague tweedy sort of way.

“Is that true? Do you want to join this drama class? There’s room,” his voice was warm and pleasant, with a feeling of ease to it. As if he were somehow oddly accustomed to very tall boys dragging breathless and frantic girls before him.

“Drama?” Dawn laughed, “No – this period I have ceramics.”

Sungyeol dropped her hand and looked down at her, his arms folded across his chest, “Ceramics?” (And suddenly Dawn Summers knew all too well why Sungjong referred to the older boy as “Prince Sungyeol” … and wished she didn’t.)

“I’m going to kill you,” she hissed up at him sullenly (hopefully out of the teacher’s earshot).

Dawn ducked her head around the boy and smiled up at the teacher, “I like Ceramics. It’s quiet.” She cleared her throat and smiled uncomfortably, “Anyway. I’m no actress.”

“Oh no?”

Dawn shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.

The man on the stage let out a long breath, “I must ask that you try an experiment for me. And then I will allow you back to …. Ceramics.”

Dawn began blushing furiously. He was going to make her get up on the stage, she just knew it. The class twittered around her. Suji touched her arm lightly and cooed a soft comfort from behind her.

He hopped down and pat the stage with one hand, “Sit right here and tell us the story of your life. It can take you as long as you want. You can say as many or as few words as you think necessary.”

Dawn shrunk into herself. Seriously? Please ask anything but that. She had no desire to reveal her twisted story to a room full of complete strangers.

The man let out a short laugh. “Of course every word MUST be a lie.”

“A lie?” Dawn whispered.

He nodded. She handed her bag to Suji and padded up to the stage, hoisting herself up with a little grunt. She looked out at the class blankly for a moment (grinning a little as Suji pulled Sungyeol into a seat a few rows behind the rest of the class, the older boy wiggling and jumping around with unrestrained excitement.)

For a brief, ridiculous moment she thought about telling the very, very truth. Keys and monks and Slayers and hell-gods and death and death and all.

But she lived that story. It wasn’t a lie at all.

And anyway, she was tired of that story.

So she spun a sweet, but a little sad, story about a girl she could have been –maybe the one she’d be if she had been allowed to write her own story.

Another girl would probably have told the story of a girl who was just a little too perfect, just a little sweet – but Dawn didn’t. Her Self was a little like a girl from a story she once read, probably; someone with stubbornness that allowed her strength, someone with a vulnerability, someone who held a grudge, someone who loved fiercely.

There were some nuggets of truth there – truths that could probably break her if she let them. She was an orphan who never knew her real parents, she had an older sister who was fierce and kind, she had two (adoptive) parents who struggled to make their relationship work … there was still a little loss in her story, still a little pain. She couldn’t tell a whole lie.

And anyway – a life without tears wouldn’t be Real. Even if this was just a yarn she spun to get out of a class, it still had to be something she would have wanted. And she didn’t want to lose herself, even in a new story.

“… And when my dad gets home from his trips to England to visit family, we always make a large sundae spread in the kitchen. Even though Beth is in college now, she still comes over and brings toppings with her.”

Dawn focused down on the teacher sitting in the front row, tucking her hair behind one ear (and also maybe surreptitiously wiping a tear from the corner of her eye).

He stood and looked her right in the eye. “You were right, dear.” Dawn breathed a sigh of relief and then glanced up at the clock. Twenty minutes had passed!

The instructor turned to the class, “This, class. Is no actress. This is an author! A storyteller! A writer!”

The class erupted into applause. Sungjong jumping up for a standing ovation, tugging Suji up with him as he bounced.

“I’m sorry my dear,” he addressed Dawn again. “But you aren’t going back to Ceramics. … But you don’t have to be on stage if you don’t want to. There’s plenty of things I think I can teach you… if you’ll let me?”

Dawn nodded. She had never been called a writer before. And anyway, it wasn’t like another class with Sungyeol would be a burden.

The class continued on like normal for the rest of the period – much to Dawn’s relief. As they walked out to their other classes, syllabi in hand, Dawn was held back.

“Your last name. Summers.”

“That’s right. Dawn Summers. Do I need to talk to the office about getting into this class?”

“No, no. I’ll take care of it.” He cleared his throat. “So … your sister?”

Dawn tensed. “Buffy.”

He nodded. “My younger brother was in your sister’s graduating class. Tell her…” He stared off into the distance. “Tell her thank you.”

Dawn started to walk away, then turned back – shaking her head at Sungyeol who stood waiting in the doorway. “Mr—?”

“Oh. Blume. Gale Blume.”

“Mr. Blume—”

“You can call me Gale.”

The smiled sheepishly at each other.

Dawn had never had to ask anyone a question like this before, even in Sunnydale, even with the sister she had. It must have been a sign of growing up or something.

“Did he—did your brother? Is he…?”

“He didn’t make it through the graduation ceremony,” he laughed a little and shrugged.

Dawn stood silently.

“So many might not have,” the way he said it – they both knew. And she knew and smiled.

After all that, she walked to her final class with Sungyeol’s arm tight around her shoulders, and Suji’s small hand gripping hers tight.

And she thought… maybe she wouldn’t kill the twerp after all.


	5. In which Dawn is invited to dinner, Xander steals Buffy's phone, everyone is scolded, and she loses her shoes

When Sungjong looked up at her with his wide eyes and said, “Well of course you are coming over for dinner,” she didn’t have an option. Not really.

Not with Myungsoo’s eyes doing that starry little dance that they do when he’s really, really present and she actually feels like he can see her.

Not with Sungyeol literally bouncing up and down beside her, unable to contain his excitement. Or his energy. Boy has far more energy than any human Dawn has ever known.

As she took a moment to mull over the younger boy’s request, Myungsoo sidled up behind them and caught the Sungyeol around the waist, resting his chin against his other shoulder, without saying anything.

There was no perceptible change –not one that anyone else would have seen. But as Myungsoo pressed himself up against Sungyeol’s back, Dawn noted the smallest shift in the taller boy’s energy. It wasn’t exactly a calming – his fingers still buzzed about – but there was a sense of ease that Sungyeol seemed at times incapable of creating for himself.

She didn’t really have an option, but she still protested: “My sister will be expecting me.” She thought maybe appealing to Sungjong would be the best bet, so she pushed a little, “She doesn’t like me out alone after dark.”

Suji tugged on Sungjong’s bag and whispered to him something Dawn couldn’t make out. He pulled her arm through his and squinted at Dawn, “Your unni has nothing on hers. Come on.”

And with Sungyeol on one side, his long stride causing her to almost gallop along beside him, chattering along about the play they (she?) were going to write and produce that semester and Myungsoo on the other, gripping her hand and staring off into space – she really just didn’t have it in her heart to say no.

(3:57PM): Made new friends. Invited for dinner, kk? (3:59PM): Be home before dark. Save room for dessert. (3:59PM): Are they vampires? (4:00PM): Walking in the sun. So unless there’s a loophole we don’t know about… (4:03PM): Xander wants to know if they’re demons? (4:04PM): How will I know? (4:07PM): um… He says they’ll be attractive… (4:09PM): oh. Obscenely. You won’t believe it. (4:10PM): RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!! (4:10PM): Sorry, Xand stole the phone from me (4:11PM): txt every hour so I know your safe (4:12PM): I always do (4:18PM): Spike will walk you home if you want to stay later (4:21PM): <3333 thanks sis

It took a little over twenty minutes to get from the high school to the block of duplexes where they lived. It definitely should have only taken them five, ten minutes tops (Dawn may or may not have trekked the same route… in heels… at midnight… while on patrol only two nights previously), but Sungyeol kept prancing around like a puppy –showing off, doing tricks, jumping off sidewalks and rails, kicking his soccer ball across the street and having to run for it, while Myungsoo behaved as though he hung the moon, encouraging each antic. Sungjong and Suji kept a slow pace behind them, occasionally peering into his phone and oohing, and Dawn was positive they were talking about fashion or shoes or something, but she didn’t join them.

It was a warm day in Sunnydale –right on the edge of Autumn, when summer in Southern California makes its final stand – there was no homework, no deadlines, no Scooby-meeting, no heavy tome waiting for her to translate, no one waiting anxiously … and so she played.

It was far too easy to play with Sungyeol. He was all smiles and limbs and bouncing, his hair falling into his eyes, his humor restless and hungry. It was all so familiar to her – like a dream she once forgot. And she became all flowing hair and dancing feet and twirling, her limbs stretching out to match his, her laughter easy and covetous. And so they galloped along like newborn fauns.

Cars sped by full of her classmates and she thought briefly of the girl that she was supposed to be – the girl in heels with a head held high – thought of the girl she was – buried underneath books and monsters and epic battles – and laughed louder. Maybe she had grown up too fast. Maybe she had never cavorted in such a reckless fashion. Maybe it was high time she learned how to. Before the world caught up to her again.

When they arrived at Suji’s home (a cookie-cutter duplex, one of many in a long row) a small woman –probably around Buffy’s age – with wild, curly hair wearing skinny jeans, stilettos, and a loose shirt that exposed the soft flesh just above her jeans under an apron, came streaming out the front door and down the driveway, right into Suji’s arms. What commenced next, Dawn would never be quite certain of –there was a flurry of Korean as the woman grabbed Suji by the shoulders and checked the girl (for injury?) and scolded Sungjong (presumably) as he tried to calm her down, standing near Suji protectively. The woman was all cheekbones and lips and hair and fury. Her eyes flashed at Dawn fiercely before Suji was able to whisper a few words in edgewise. And then everyone was being petted and checked on and her voice took that maternal edge that Dawn remembered from when her mother was alive, when Tara was around. That edge that said, “You are all still on my list and I’m not happy, but tell me all the lovely things you did today because I love you and want to know everything.” And then a flurry of talking erupted all around her – the boys jumping over each other and gesturing (at one point the woman bowed to Dawn and then touched her hair softly and cooed over her just a little) and laughing until Suji started tugging the woman into the house.

After it became quiet Dawn turned to Sungjong, “Unni? It means sister?”

He smiled wide and nodded, then shrugged, “Sort of.”

Dawn laughed to herself. There wasn’t much in the world that could take down Buffy Summers – in most things she was more than most people could ever hope to be – but after seeing that little woman’s strength oozing out of her body in protection and defense of Suji (and then of the boys, too – so quickly and easily)… “She could probably give even my sister a run for her money.”

“Fei’s really cool,” Myungsoo burst out from behind her. And the other two boys laughed, teasing him gently, heading off across the driveway.

To the other side of the duplex.

Dawn blinked when Sungjong pulled out a key and waggled his eyebrows at her, placing the key in the lock and opening the door. “Sungjong lives next door to Suji?” she asked Sungyeol.

He shrugged, “We all live here.”

“Wait. What? You all live together?”

The three of them stared at her like she had grown a third eye. Sungjong shrugged as if her comment didn’t dignify a response and swept inside without a second glance back.

And that’s how Dawn found herself ushered into a dimly lit little house, her shoes manhandled off her at the door, and thrust into a cramped little living room that looked into a kitchen. At the kitchen table sat two older boys with books and papers spread all over it – obviously studying – Sungjong went straight to them and sat next to one, immediately engaging in a soft conversation as he pulled out books from his own bag and the other two made room for him at the table. As if they did this every day, making space for him as though they were only waiting for him to come claim it. In the living room was another boy, who barely glanced up at them as they entered, absorbed in a video game – Sungyeol tackled him and tore the controller from his hand. Myungsoo plopped himself down on the other couch and watched, laughing.

And then a seventh boy turned away from the stove in the kitchen, a spatula in his hand, calling out something to the boys in the living room in Korean. When he saw Dawn he smiled broadly and bowed.

And he was the most disgustingly attractive human being she had ever laid eyes on.

“Well,” she said to the room. “This is just ridiculous.”


	6. In which Dawn Summers reminds us all that she is first and foremost a fangirl, the narrator interrupts, and Buffy is left unsatisfied

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Probably my favorite chapter to date.

“… and I mean really, just wait until you meet him. I think he might be the sweetest person on the planet. And Yeollie (that’s what they call him – isn’t that cute?) is such a big doufus and I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in my whole… though… okay… Myungsoo always laughs just a little too hard when Yeollie is adorable or even remotely funny. I mean, everyone has jokes that fall flat you know? And Myungsoo will laugh like it’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard anyway. And then Dongwoo laughs, too – just because he loves to laugh. And I don’t even know what to do about that right now. Mostly I think I spent the whole time giggling like a big spaz – I swear I was channeling Willow or something in there. They’re all just so stupid and … okay so Sunggyu is a jerk beyond – but it … I don’t know because Woohyun obviously loves him SO MUCH and it just doesn’t make sense! And oh! He made us dinner – Woohyun, you know – and was so sweet and he takes such good care of everyone (and you can tell that he’s the one that cares the most about everyone) and he’s not even the oldest. And argh! God Sunggyu just drove me nuts the whole time, skulking in the background like a creeper and yelling at everyone and anyway it’s really just the most adorable thing to see the older ones dote on the younger ones because I don’t think Hoya does anything without Sungjong at all ever. Except maybe with Dongwoo because they seem to be very close. And anyway dinner was delicious and Woohyun is so cute and sweet and funny and really just obscenely attractive. He should be against the law. He probably is somewhere. Maybe they all moved here to protect him from some sort of attractive-male slave trade or something. And they brought Sunggyu as a distraction. (You should just hear him bicker with everyone and boss them all around like he’s some old man and they are just these kids on his lawn. It’s gross.) And Dongwoo is just the sweetest though because I think he just loves everyone always and they all just get along really well – except Yeollie and Sunggyu. Don’t even get me started on that. I’m still pissed off. Anyway, Yeollie is kind of a jerk sometimes, but in a really endearing way so it doesn’t bother me and anyway Woohyun encourages him and teases him and it’s so cute. And I think I really felt the most comfortable around Hoya because lord – there’s just so much going on! Sungjong with all that sass and Yeollie with all that energy and Myungsoo is always spacing out and Dongwoo is wandering around being just… perfect… and Sunggyu’s bitching at everyone and Woohyun’s … Woohyun. And Hoya is just so normal, you know? Like he isn’t too much. I think he’d get along with anyone. Not that they all wouldn’t. It’s like you know how sometimes people have just these huge personalities and people like that… they surround themselves with others who are more mellow or something, like there’s balance? Like… like a really strong vampire and she has minions? Like that. Only it’s all just an explosion of personality and they’re all so strong and sweet (except Sunggyu – but I don’t even want to talk about HIS obvious control issues) and Hoya’s like this big bundle of balance. And I’ve never met guys who wanted to cuddle so damn much. I mean it’s overwhelming. I almost went next door to grab Suji because – there’s only so much cuddling a girl can take. And okay. Here it is. Sunggyu flipped when Yeollie and I were cuddling on the couch before dinner talking about this play or something that Yeollie wants to do… and I totally get that they’re all … anyway. It was ridiculous. He started ranting in Korean and I’m pretty sure he didn’t like that I was touching Yeollie but ugh. Pretty boy and all but there is no way I’m going there like THAT – it would be so weird. It would be like Buffy dating Xander, you know? Gross. Totally not going to happen. And Dongwoo just sort of snuck in on the other side of me and curled right up like totes it was the most normal thing in the world and said something really soft to Sunggyu only he wouldn’t stop – and really, boy looks like a deranged hamster when he’s mad – and then Woohyun had to pull him into the kitchen to get him to stop – he really just is the sweetest and so fracking cute…”

_After dinner and far too much cuddling with nearly everyone in the house, Dawn finally was able to tear herself free from the passel of boys – who probably took to her much too quickly, but this is after all her story, so who is to say otherwise – and start her trek home. On her way out the door each boy took a turn giving her a fierce and long hug goodbye. They were all sweet boys. Sungyeol, Myungsoo, and Sungjong – being the youngest of the seven – called her “Noona” with respect and bowed a little as she walked out. Hoya teased her over the dinner table, Dongwoo fell quite madly in love with her hair, and Woohyun seemed delighted that she fit in so well with his little family, complimented his cooking, and made Sungyeol’s smile just a little wider by being there._

_The one boy who did not receive a hug that night was one Kim Sunggyu. A short, crisp nod of the head was all the two exchanged as she breezed out the door into the night. Of course, we can forgive Sunggyu for being wary of this female interloper into his domain, for being uncomfortable with the sudden presence of a foreign occupant who carries about her so much ease and humor and inner strength – we can, for I can tell you a secret._

_At the edge of the driveway, Dawn found Spike lurking with a cigarette in his hand and his trusty jacket swinging around him. Without a glance behind, she took his arm and proceeded to tell him every intricate detail of her day (and if he preened a little at her comment regarding Xander’s ability to date Buffy, we will ignore it for the sake of his dignity; and if he bristled a little at all this talk of cuddling with strange boys, we will chalk it up to his protective nature; and if he smiled to himself every time her chatter collapsed into fury over one person in particular, we will only smile back; and if she noticed none of this – are we really surprised), much to her companion’s chagrin._

_She didn’t look back – but we can. And what she would have seen is one Kim Sunggyu standing on the porch, watching her walk down the street, fidgeting a little when he saw the shadow in the night, his heart dropping slightly when she embraced her companion so easily – as she was wont – and remaining there until long after she had disappeared, only dragged inside when one Nam Woohyun came looking for him._

_And this is a secret our dear heroine may never know, but we can remember in spite of her._

“… I’m super glad I met them and that Yeollie dragged me to that drama class. Spike. I’m in a _drama class_ —”

“No Niblet,” Spike finally interrupted exasperatingly. “You are on your porch. We have been standing here for five minutes. Can you please go inside now?”

A light went on overhead and Buffy appeared in the doorway, a confused expression on her face. She was dressed in little pink pj shorts and a white tank top, her hair tossed up in a messy bun, “What are you two doing standing on the porch?”

Dawn turned to Buffy, “Oh good! I have to tell you all about –”

“Uh uh.” Buffy shook her head, “Pajamas first, dessert and gossip second – _quickly_ – and then bed. It’s already way late for a school night.” Dawn started to pout (just a little) before Buffy smiled, “I want to hear _everything_ – so be quick!”

Dawn scurried past her sister and flew up the stairs.

Spike sighed in relief. And lit another cigarette. The third since he found Dawn’s arm wound through his.

Buffy wrinkled her nose, “I really wish you’d quit.”

Spike only shrugged. It had been a long walk home. In every way. He turned to step off the porch.

“Spike?” Buffy’s tone was a little petulant, mostly surprised, and a little breathy. Like she had meant to scold him, but halfway through decided seduction was a better bet. He turned and took a long drag. _Damn but she looked good in those little shorts and he longed to run a finger over that little bit of skin that peeked between the edge of her shirt and the top of those stupidly short shorts._ “Aren’t you coming in?”

He let out a short laugh, “Gotta kill something first, Slayer.” He drawled over the word and it made her blush. He took a large couple of steps up to her and kissed her on the mouth, quickly, and a little too hard. “You will too, once she’s done with you.” He nodded towards the stairs, just as a loud crashing sound came from upstairs followed by the distant: “ _Shit_! … uh… I’m okay!!! I’m alright!”

They both grimaced and smiled at each other a little, before Spike bounded off the porch. “I got patrol tonight, luv. Don’t leave the light on,” he called over his shoulder as he strode towards the nearest cemetery, looking for a fight.

An hour and half later, Buffy seriously wished she had gone with him, her head buzzing with names and details that she knew there was no way she could remember. _And when he slipped naked between her sheets only an hour after that, she was fast asleep, and she woke with his leg pinning her down securely, his nose nestled into her neck._


	7. In which Dawn Summers comes in briefly at the end, Woohyun gets a lecture, and Sungjong complains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a boy-centric chapter. And my bias for OT3s comes to a head with 2Wooyeollie cuddles.

Woohyun stumbled through the bedroom door and closed it softly, immediately falling onto the king-sized bed face-first into a pillow and groaned. Sungyeol barely looked up from the screen of his laptop that was resting on his chest as he reached out with one hand and tugged on Woohyun’s arm a bit… Woohyun slapped him away and rolled up to lie parallel to him, “It’s all your fault.”

 

Sungyeol pulled one earbud away and muttered, “What is my fault now?”

 

Woohyun kicked him, “I just got a rousing lecture from Sunggyu about you.”

 

Dongwoo, sitting on the floor against the edge of the bed turned to peer over the mattress at them, “About Dawn-ssi?”

 

Woohyun nodded, burying his head deeper into the pillow so that his voice came out muffled, “And a new chores schedule. Then Dawn. Then the laundry. Then Dawn. Then my work schedule. Then Dawn. Then Sungyeol’s attitude…”

 

Woohyun’s nightly skin treatment regimen went on much longer than usual, with Sunggyu sitting on the edge of the bathtub, practically beside himself with worry and agitation and nerves. It also _started_ quite a bit later than it ought, as it took him nearly five minutes to tear Sunggyu off the porch after Dawn had left the house. After which, Sunggyu followed him around the house as he cleaned up from dinner, picked up the living room a bit, tried to organize the mess of shoes in front of the door, folded a load of laundry and delivered the basket to Hoya and Sungjong’s room. All of this, of course, without Sunggyu noticing the state of the kitchen, or helping, just following Woohyun around the apartment like a little lost puppy who has completely lost control of his limbs.

 

And as much as Sunggyu tried to keep the conversation on the house, on the younger boys, on the food budget, on their hectic schedules now that the semester was well under way… he kept circling back to the girl with the very long hair and long limbs who had spent the afternoon seducing every boy in the house from her seat on the couch. Every boy in the house except him. Sunggyu. He who had spent the afternoon a bundle of nerves, trying far too hard to make jokes, trying far too hard to present himself as a very good hyung that put his hodgepodge family first. (He was currently the butt of many of Hoya’s jokes, whispered to Sungjong in the safety of their room.) This girl who so clearly had the worst oppa he had ever heard of. Who was so loud and so abrasive, who took to the other boys so easily, who was going to break Myungsoo’s heart (Woohyun had the decency not to laugh at this painfully obvious example of Sunggyu losing his mind), who was indelicate and flirty and too outspoken… for over an hour he struggled _not_ to talk about her and failed.

 

Sungyeol shook his head in agitation, “Dawnie-noona is so nice. I don’t understand why he doesn’t like her.”

 

Woohyun lifted his head and the two older boys exchanged a very secret smile.

 

“And anyway,” Sungyeol continued as he shut his laptop down, setting it on the ground and turning to play with Woohyun’s hair, “What difference is it to hyung if I make an actual friend here? Is it a crime to be friends with a girl? He spends plenty of time with Fei-noona.”

 

Dongwoo reached out and flicked Woohyun’s foot, “I think he noticed the way she looked at _you_.”

 

The cacophony of laughter and teasing that erupted then was far too garbled for even this faithful narrator to record accurately. Sungyeol whooped with laughter, which only ended when Woohyun planted a firm kiss on his mouth. Dongwoo collapsed into a fit of giggles on the floor and only emerged when the other two started throwing pillows at him.

 

Breathless, Sungyeol sunk back on the bed, “Poor Dawnie-noona. I _like_ her and all, but…”

 

Woohyun snorted and nestled Sungyeol’s shoulder with the top of his head affectionately, “Aish! Poor _Sunggyu_! That little hamster doesn’t stand a chance.”

 

Dongwoo’s voice came floating up from the floor, “Of course he does! He just doesn’t _think_ that he stands a chance now. Who would want a Sunggyu after meeting the mighty Woohyun?”

 

“Do you think it would be a good match?” Sungyeol asked thoughtfully.

 

Dongwoo threw a pillow up into the air and then caught it, “Obviously.”

 

Woohyun sobered and scooted closer to Sungyeol, twisting their fingers together and reaching out with his feet to tangle their legs together. The taller boy eased one arm around the other and smiled, “Can we tease him about this? Please?”

 

Woohyun shook his head, “Anything else and I would be… but… ” He thought quickly of Sunggyu’s last brush with a female, back home in Korea. A delightful girl Woohyun had thought so perfect for his hyung. She was very much like Dawn in many ways.  And his heart had been decidedly broken when she ended things. Woohyun was the only one who knew this, who knew what a fragile state their prickly hyung’s heart was actually in. He held his tongue, but he knew that he’d have to find a way to make sure the others didn’t tease Sunggyu too much about his (very obvious) feelings for Dawn.

 

Not that they all weren’t ecstatic over the prospect of Sunggyu finally finding someone (except maybe Myungsoo, who was more than likely completely and utterly oblivious), but none of them had any tact at all. Or subtlety. And all were delighted at any and all opportunity to tease Sunggyu.

 

Protecting him from the others was an uphill battle for Woohyun.

 

Dongwoo threw the pillows back on the bed, turned off the light, and then squeezed himself between the two already so fully intertwined. They made space for him as always. Sungyeol turning Dongwoo so that the small of his back was pressed firmly into the taller boy’s stomach, Woohyun scooting down slightly to curl into Dongwoo’s chest, Sungyeol’s long arm reaching out to hold Woohyun’s. Some nights Sungyeol escaped to the bunk-bed in Myungsoo’s room, he sometimes needed to stretch and get away, to sink between cool sheets alone. The other two never begrudged him his space. Some nights Dongwoo ducked into Sunggyu’s room, or with Hoya and Sunjong, or fell asleep on the couch with Myungsoo draped all around him. And some nights Woohyun tucked in with Sunggyu, the two whispering into the night their concerns and worries that they couldn’t tell the others. But when it was all three of them together, it was always like this, with Sunyeol’s limbs everywhere, and Dongwoo – so much smaller – tucked between them, with Woohyun nestled into Dongwoo’s chest. (Of course, by morning Yeollie usually had kicked away the blankets and was stretched out as far as his limbs could reach, the other two pushed into the smallest sliver of space on one edge of the bed – Dongwoo once woke up curled at the foot of the bed – Woohyun all tangled up in the blankets and Dongwoo.)

 

As they found their spaces and their breath became a steady rhythm, Sungyeol started laughing quietly to himself. Dongwoo elbowed him, “You aren’t going to tell her, are you.” It wasn’t really a question. They all knew how much of a trickster Sungyeol was.

 

Sungyeol laughed harder, “I can’t. This is going to be far too much fun.”

 

Woohyun started laughing a little as well.

 

Dongwoo elbowed them both, “You are _terrible_.”

 

“You won’t tell her, will you hyung?” Sungyeol wheedled into Dongwoo’s ear.

 

The older boy giggled and squirmed as the two began tickling him softly.

 

“Alright I won’t!”

 

After they had settled a bit, he added: “But I will try to help Sunggyu-hyung.”

 

“He’s going to need it,” Woohyun murmured.

 

If, in the morning, Sunggyu noticed that the other boys in the house all seemed to be in on a large joke, he made no note of it. He did, however, demand Woohyun make an extra lunch that day, hovering in the kitchen, getting underfoot as Woohyun and Hoya worked to get the younger boys off to school. When Sungjong was handed four bento boxes on the way out the door instead of the customary three, he almost threw a royal tantrum. Wasn’t it enough that Sungyeol and Myungsoo were utterly incapable of looking after their own lunches, now he was having to carry an _extra_ lunch as well?

 

But the look on Woohyun’s face as he handed him the bag stopped Sungjong’s complaint in its tracks. An added nod from Hoya towards Sunggyu lurking in the hallway, large bags under his eyes, and Sungjong swallowed even the little sigh lying in wait. He smiled and bowed a little to Sunggyu in the hallway and exclaimed what a good idea this all was!

 

Of course, he muttered and fumed all the way to school and through most of his first class.

 

(Perhaps there was a reason for him to forget about his anger during second period, a reason that may prove to be very beautiful and very dangerous, but that story will have to wait for another time.)

 

Later, he would say it was all worth it, taking that extra lunch to school.

 

Not because of the surprised look on Dawn’s face when he presented it to her.

 

But the look of fury on Woohyun’s when he got to smugly say: “Well it’s just that Fei-noona sent a lunch for her with Suji, also. So she _tried_ to eat both, but it was an awful lot of food.”

 

(And possibly if one Meng Jia also had as late of a night as Woohyun because one Wang Fei followed _her_ around the house, talking about this poor little girl who obviously had the worst oppa and then spent the whole day next door and no one had even thought to invite her over to dinner and lord knows what Woohyun even feeds them! … well... we will leave that conversation private.)


	8. In which Dawn Summers does a favor for a friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fei-unni is my favorite person ever.

It was Saturday at two o’clock in the afternoon and Dawn was alone in the Magic Box - her calculus book open on her right, an ancient Sumerian text open on her left, and a nearly empty donut box in the center of the table. Dangerously close to a stack of papers covered in Dawn’s wandering scrawl, was a sweaty plastic cup with a large puddle underneath – once it must have held coffee-flavored deliciousness, but now was just old whip cream, melted ice, and the lingering remnant of caramel syrup.

 

Dawn eyed the cup warily, picked it up, swirled it around in an attempt to re-blend the now separated ingredients, and then shrugged to herself as she slurped as much liquid as she could through the straw, shivering a little. She debated the prospect of walking over to the trash and disposing of said cup. But it really wasn’t worth it, instead setting it carefully on the little round puddle of water once more.

 

From the storage room, Anya let out a short burst of obscenities. She was looking for a special item someone had placed on layaway, leaving Dawn in charge of the shop during her absence. That had been over an hour ago. About twenty minutes before that, Spike and Buffy had breezed through on their way to the training room, Spike handing off Dawn’s favorite: a triple shot iced mocha with extra caramel. She could hear them periodically crashing around, Buffy giggling, Spike swearing.

 

For the most part, though, she sat in silence. No one had come into the shop all afternoon. Not that Dawn wished for a full shop – but she was bored. Sungyeol and Myungsoo both had shifts at a local pharmacy, Sungyeol as a cashier and Myungsoo in the photo developing department. Dongwoo was at rehearsal for a dance recital they had invited her to later that night. Sungjong had agreed to chaperone Suji and a group of her friends at the movie theatre that afternoon, no doubt dragging Hoya along. (No one had Sungjong wrapped around their finger like little Suji… and no one but Sungjong could have convinced Hoya to spend the day with a group of squealing teenage girls.) And Woohyun… Dawn blushed. All these new friends and no one was available on a Saturday afternoon – so there she was, stuck in the Magic Box.

 

Not that she would have been able to be anywhere else, anyway. Technically she worked the shop with Anya on the weekends, scraping together enough of a salary to keep herself in shoes and nail polish.

 

Not that she would have invited any of the boys to the shop, anyway. She was working hard to make sure they were kept safe from the underbelly of Sunnydale, from the reason why she sometimes had bags under her eyes from lack of sleep, why that Wednesday she had fallen asleep during lunch hour, with her head in Myungsoo’s lap as he stroked her hair. Inviting them to the Magic Box was a recipe for disaster.

 

Dawn turned her head toward the door that lead to the training room and smiled when she heard Buffy collapse into loud giggles, Spike’s shouts coming through the wall incoherently. It probably was for the best if the guys didn’t show up out of the blue without giving Buffy any warning again… The previous weekend Sungyeol and Myungsoo had shown up with food and a bunch of movies and moved into the Summers living room for several hours. Buffy had been at work and on patrol, so Dawn hadn’t bothered her. Of course, when Buffy came home to Dawn asleep on the couch in a tangle of Sungyeol and Dongwoo’s limbs (the older boy having stopped by after work), Myungsoo playing with Miss Kitty Fantastico in the corner – she regretted not sending a warning txt, at least.

 

Spike had been surprisingly calm about the whole thing.

 

She looked around the empty store, for a moment feeling a little lost, as though she wasn’t sure how she got there – as though she hadn’t been sitting in that spot for the last few hours. The thought occurred to her that it was impossible to be there – the store intact like new. There was a memory – tickling the back of her consciousness – that it wasn’t possible for her to be sitting there at all. But as soon as she directed her attention to it, it was gone and she had forgotten. It left a strange yearning in her, a soft taste in her mouth of spice This had been happening more and more frequently to her, but Dawn brushed it off as just feeling bored and restless… with a bizarre craving for kimchi.

 

She pulled a stack of post-it’s to her and wrote: “Anchovies and kimchi pizza?!!!”

 

Willow breezed through, the bell on the door jingling happily, replacing Dawn’s empty coffee cup with a smoothie and a napkin on her way to the counter. If anything, the people in Dawn’s life kept her in high supply of food. Most of it not very good… but she didn’t complain. (Not when she now had daily lunches supplied by Woohyun and Fei-unni… who seemed to be in some sort of food-war over her, but she wasn’t complaining.)

 

Willow kept up a stream of chatter about her classes that semester, her homework, Kennedy’s trip to Brazil, and Giles’ last email about a weird disturbance of energy near Sunnydale until customers finally started trickling in … while checking Dawn’s calculus and grimacing at the Sumerian text. The shop never got really busy that day, just a slow and steady stream for the next hour or so. With Willow around and Anya finally emerging from storage, Dawn was left to her books (and her phone) for the most part.

 

Around five o’clock – about an hour before Dawn needed to make her way back home to get dressed for Dongwoo’s recital that night and just after Willow had ducked into the back to talk to Buffy about that night’s patrol – the little bell rang and she heard the distinctive murmur of two voices speaking in Korean. One light, airy female voice. The other a slow male voice with a slight (and not at all endearing) lisp.

 

“Fei-unni!?” Dawn exclaimed, standing up quickly and thrusting the Sumerian text (a catalogue of Far Eastern demons and hell-gods from the 15 th century) into a shelf behind her.

 

“Dawn-ssi!” Fei exclaimed as she trotted down the short stairs in her customary heels and skinny jeans, grasping Dawn into a bright hug.

 

Dawn stood happily as Fei played with Dawn’s hair, asking about her day and school and her studies – though the older girl had just seen her the day before and had asked and received the same questions and answers. Fei narrowed her eyes at the opened calculus book on the table and pushed Dawn into the chair, “Now I want you to finish your homework so that you can come to dinner tonight at our house after Dongwoo’s recital tonight, yes?”

 

Anya sidled up, “I can help you find anything you want.” She was decidedly less perky today after wrestling with mysterious articles down in the storage room all day.

 

Fei took Anya’s arm comfortably and steered her towards the front of the shop, talking quietly. Sunggyu hovered at the bottom of the stairs uncomfortably.

 

Even though she didn’t want to, Dawn knew it rude not to say hello to him, so she did – with a very stilted voice, her neck straight to the point of awkward, “Hello Sunggyu-ssi.”

 

Sunggyu bowed to her respectfully, hiding his disappointed expression in doing so. In the last month, she had taken to calling all of the older boys in the house “oppa” with ease and a little bit of teasing from Jia and Min. All except him. “Annyong Dawn-ssi,” he said shyly.

 

Fei and Anya seemed occupied in some haggling and Dawn knew they’d be a while, so she stiffly pointed to the box of donuts, “You can… You can have one if you want.”

 

Sunggyu eyed her and the box warily, as if she was offering poison and then sunk into the chair near her, taking out a bear claw with delicate fingers. They sat in silence as Fei and Anya conducted business. Dawn thought briefly that it was probably one of those silences someone else would consider a comfortable silence. Something she so rarely was able to accomplish around other people. She so often felt so anxious and worn out around other people, not as though they expected something from her (not always), but that the space between her body and all others needed to be filled with energy, with words, with something. But of course – she wouldn’t allow the thought to take root, pushed it aside, and instead related the moment later to someone as “awkward” and “uncomfortable” and Sunggyu as “rude and uncommunicative” …

 

Afterwards, Fei bowed to Anya and said respectively, “In her name.”

 

Anya bowed back and repeated the phrase.

 

And then went straight to the laptop behind the counter with an odd expression on her face.

 

“Sunggyu-ssi? Will you take this out to the car for me?” She handed him her shopping bag, “I want to talk to Dawn for a minute.”

 

As soon as the bell jingled at Sunggyu’s back, Fei turned to Dawn – her eyes pleading, “Dawn-ssi! Take him off my hands, please?”

 

“What?!” To say Dawn was shocked would be an understatement.

 

“Sunggyu-oppa. I need you to keep him here with you for a while.”

 

Dawn didn’t even deign Fei with another answer, just crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. Surely she was joking.

 

“Ya! I’m not joking! He’s driving me nuts! I need to get some shopping done and I need space to do it. Please just… ask for help on your homework or something?”

 

Dawn stared at the older girl hard, “You owe me.”

 

Fei planted a sloppy kiss on Dawn’s cheek, leaving a smear of lipgloss, “You’re the best!”

 

Sunggyu came back in the shop seconds later. Fei gave Dawn a meaningful look. She started blushing, she knew the only way to convince him that she wanted him to stay, and she really didn’t want to do it. The older girl turned to Sunggyu, “I’m worried about leaving Dawn all alone here – she’s really struggling with her homework. Do you think? Sunggyu-ssi! You are so very good at math.”

 

Sunggyu blinked at her. This was not necessarily true. They both knew it. He typically asked Myungsoo for help with any math homework he brought home. And Woohyun had completely taken over the household accounts out of frustration. He opened his mouth to protest—

 

(Dawn sneaked a glance at Anya – glad that the ex-demon wasn’t paying attention. It would be just like her to point out Willow’s presence in the back room.)

 

“Please?” Dawn wished she could shoot daggers into Fei with her eyes. She took a deep breath, “Please Sunggyu-oppa? I could really use the help.”

 

Fei winked at Sunggyu as she breezed out of the store, leaving him standing with his mouth hanging slightly open, his heart somewhere below his knees.


	9. In which Sunggyu’s world is overly melodramatic and not a little Romantic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This came out differently than I expected. Sunggyu-perspective chapter for you! In case anyone was wondering what was going on in grandpa-gyu's head.  
> Warning: Scoobies being complete dorks

Kim Sunggyu prayed to Her Name that he wasn’t blushing. He wished and hoped and wished that he wasn’t blushing. He held his breath – involuntarily, like a drowning man cherishes the air trapped in his lungs until the final moment when the disaster finally presents itself and there was no turning back. Maybe he wasn’t actually blushing, maybe the woman in front of him didn’t hear the sound of his heart plummeting to the floor, maybe he wasn’t uncomfortably standing there as she stared with her brilliant wide eyes boring into him from across the room, their sparkling blue impossible and penetrating.                                              

He looked down at his hands and began playing with the watch on his wrist carelessly, twisting it around and around reflexively, a nervous twitch that Woohyun had pointed out to him many times _(once, before the others, when it was just the two of them in a tiny apartment in Seoul, in the days before Woohyun brought Dongwoo home with him like a lost puppy found at the park, and Sunggyu didn’t know if his heart would ever mend, and there was Woohyun teasing him over a pot of ramen and after they ended up in a tangle of limbs and lips and gasps, Woohyun would tell him it was the way he unconsciously twisted his hand around his wrist when he stretched his neck)_ and always resulted now in Woohyun raising his eyebrows and smiling over at him, because of a moment they had shared once, long ago. He did it now, without thinking _(very much)_ , twisting his neck to one side as he walked towards Dawn and sat, suddenly relaxed, in the chair he had vacated only moments before.

Dawn cleared her throat as she hesitantly passed a sheet covered in her clear writing over to him, “Sunbae? If you can just check these for me…? I’m almost done and then…” 

Sunggyu didn’t look up, just drew the sheet towards him and stared down at it blankly. Her words hung in the air between them, crackling and tense.

 _Oppa_.

 _Sunbae._  

It was up to him to make it alright, to cleanse the air, to let her take back the last few minutes. In his lap, one hand flexed out, white and still. He laughed, it was short, bitter, he felt her tense, “Fei-noona was tired of me, wasn’t she?”

Dawn chewed her lip nervously _(and Sunggyu wanted nothing more than for his teeth to trace a pattern on her lower lip, her knees gripping his hips, the back of the chair digging into his shoulder-blades as she pressed him down, her gasp swallowed by his mouth when he bit just a little too hard, the way he knew she liked it, her fingers pulling on his neck, his hair)_ and he smiled encouragingly, “Everyone knows I’m terrible with numbers.”

 _He thought back to that morning in the kitchen, Woohyun wheedling him softly to take his place with Fei that day – he_ had _to help Dongwoo rehearse. And Hoya couldn’t go, he said with his wolfish smile, because he already promised Sungjong and Suji to go with them, and the way he winked when Jia flipped her hair as she dragged him out the door on the heels of the younger girl… who was Sunggyu to argue? Especially with Fei standing there, her arms crossed over her chest, her foot tapping, waiting for him to accompany her. And he wondered how long they all had been plotting this?_

She smiled back at him. And his heart did NOT, definitely did NOT stop beating for that split second.

 

And then he really, really wasn’t sure what to do next.

Thankfully, the door leading to the back room opened and two (slightly sweaty) figures appeared. One was a petite woman with an open, honest face and short blonde hair pulled back into a small ponytail, exuding strength and energy. The other was a slightly taller man with platinum blonde hair slicked back, a long leather trenchcoat hung from his small but muscular frame, who seemed a little… Sunggyu couldn’t put his finger on it, but the man made the hair on his neck stand on end a little.

“And who is this?” the girl smiled brightly at him as the man put an arm around her shoulder and looked Sunggyu up and down.

“Buffy! Uh… this is … um…”

Sunggyu stood and bowed deeply, respectively. Buffy. He recognized the name. Dawn’s older sister. The only family she seemed to have… other than the mysterious “kind of brother” that sent her to school with poor excuses for lunch that kept Sunggyu up nights and Woohyun and Fei in their kitchens, trying to out-cook each other. As he bowed, he saw the remains of smoothie on the table in front of Dawn, the shadows under her eyes, the pile of books… and he was suddenly filled with the knowledge that she hadn’t had much else to eat that day… that she always seemed on the verge of exhaustion…

If it was possible to feel one’s blood boiling, Sunggyu felt he was pretty damn close to accomplishing it. He stood up and smiled, “I am Sunggyu. It is so nice to meet Dawn-ssi’s sister.”

Buffy blinked at him, taken aback by his formality, “Nice to meet you, too. Sunggyu?” He nodded. She smiled just a little more broadly, pleased with herself over something he wasn’t quite sure of. “This is my boyfriend, Spike,” she said, gesturing to the man beside her, who nodded curtly.

Dawn cut in, “Spike’s like my…”

“Like a brother?”

Dawn flushed. But Sunggyu didn’t see. He didn’t see much at all, other than flashes of red.

And yes, for a brief moment, he was filled with the absolute knowledge that if he challenged the man in front of him, he wouldn’t live much longer. _(A small voice told him that if he ever got a whiff of Sunggyu’s thoughts regarding Dawn’s lower lip, no one would ever find his body… but he pushed the thought aside desperately._  

“So it’s _you_.” His voice was low and sounded nothing like his own. His hands were clenched in fists at his side.

The three of them stared at him blankly and he almost laughed.

Spike raised his eyebrows.

“Sunggyu-ssi? What—?”

He ignored the question in Dawn’s voice. “ _You_ are supposed to be taking care of her! She’s always tired! You can’t even pack a proper lunch! What kind of brother are you?!” Sunggyu thought he would explode. The words had come out stilted, awkward. He had tried so hard to plan what he would say, had thought it over and over.

He felt like a petulant child shouting at giants.

And they were all staring at him like he had suddenly turned green.

“I come bearing snacks, Dawnie!” a voice from behind him floated through. A male’s voice. The smell of heavily deep fried food filled the shop.

Sunggyu turned and saw a man with an eyepatch, a large grin, and dark hair. In his hand was a bag of fast food, the grease seeping through the bag and making it opaque.

“Harris,” Spike’s voice was calm, but with the slightest undercurrent of laughter. “What the bloody hell is that?”

The man looked down at the bag and shrugged, “Lunch?”

Buffy fought back a smile, her voice feigned anger, “Xander! What have you been putting in Dawn’s lunches?”

Sunggyu regarded the newcomer with narrowed eyes. So _this_ was the person responsible for those reprehensible lunches! He glanced over at Spike and apologized with a curt nod. The older man grimaced at him in acknowledgement.

“Really guys, this is so ridiculous! It’s just _lunch_.”

“What about lunch?” the woman behind the counter with the curly hair suddenly spoke up.

“The boy here has been sending the little bit to school with garbage,” Spike said. Sunggyu noted a touch of an accent in his voice for the first time, now that the blood had stopped pumping in his ears.

“Hey! You said you’d stop calling me that!” the other man protested, pointing at Spike. The blonde just stared back, unmoved.

“Maybe if you stopped acting like a child!” The woman’s voice was shrill with exasperation. Xander looked bashful and ducked his head. The curly-haired woman walked over and smacked him in the arm, “You’ve been eating the lunches I made for Dawn, haven’t you?”

“Guys!” Dawn stood up and shouted out.

Everyone turned to look at her. Sunggyu noticed that Buffy had collapsed onto the stairs leading up to a blocked off bookcase and was shaking with laughter, Spike smiling broadly down at her.

“This is ridiculous. You’re all acting like he’s been poisoning me or something! I’m probably old enough to make my own lunch.” Sunggyu bristled and opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off. “Woohyun and Fei have been feeding me for long enough, I’ll just take care of it.” She shrugged and sat down, as if that ended it.

_(Behind him, Sunggyu could hear another person enter the room and try to intervene in the argument Xander and the clerk were still having.)_

He smiled a little ruefully at Dawn, “You know that neither one of them will stop now, don’t you?”

“I can take care of myself.”

“That’s not the point,” Buffy gasped. “Xander volunteered to do it!”

“Made a long speech about it and all,” Spike smiled.

_There was something… violent and sensual about that smile, Sunggyu thought uncomfortably. About the way the man ran his tongue over his teeth as he smirked. About the way his eyes gleamed._

Buffy nodded and grabbed Spike’s hand with one of her own, throwing the other into the air and saying dramatically, “Dawn’s like a sister to me! It’ll be practice for my own children! I’m the patriarch now!”

“Hey! I am the patriarch now! We voted, remember?” Xander’s voice broke through, causing only everyone to start giggling anew. “Well, I am.”

“Stuff it, Harris,” Spike said a little more menacingly.

“Back off, Spike. I’ll take care of this,” the curly-haired woman said. “No sex for a week, mister!”

Amidst protest, she lead Xander out of the store, Sunggyu heard the bell chime as they stumbled through the door. Another woman, with bright red hair cut just a little shorter that Buffy’s sat down in an empty seat. “No sex for a week?” she groaned. “I hope Anya doesn’t try to stick to that. Remember last time? I never heard the end of it.”

Sunggyu cleared his throat, “He… talked to you about it?”

Typically this kind of conversation would make him all tongue-tied, but with Buffy wrapping her fingers around Spike’s and Dawn’s amused facial expression, he felt … at ease. And almost as though it was a question they were all expecting him to ask.

The woman laughed a little, “Oh no. Well, yes. But it was mostly _her_ complaining about her own sex strike. She gave up after three days last time.” She looked over at Spike, “Bets?”

“Ten on two days.”

Buffy shook her head, “She’ll last longer this time. It’s a matter of pride now. I say at least four days.”

Dawn closed her book and started packing things into her bag, “Twenty says they’re at it right now.”

Spike chuckled and looked over at Dawn appreciatively; an expression like pride passing over his face.

“Willow?” Buffy looked inquiringly at the red-haired woman.

“Hmm…” she stood up and put her purse over one shoulder. “I think Dawn’s close. Twenty on tonight after he grovels for a bit.” She looked conspiratorially at Sunggyu, “She likes it when he grovels.” Sunggyu shifted and hoped that he wasn’t blushing… again… _What is this day?_

“Well this has been stimulating, but I need to get back to the house and change for the recital,” Dawn said.

“I can walk you,” Sunggyu volunteered.

Dawn nodded pragmatically, “I’m not really sure where I’m going once I get to Sunnydale’s campus – so that might be for the best.”

They moved toward the door, Willow sending her well-wishes and disappeared into the back of the shop.

Sunggyu stood holding the door open, when Spike approached Dawn, Buffy next to him, and touched her shoulder, “Little bit? No one thinks you can’t take care of yourself, alright?”

Buffy reached for her sister’s hand, “I didn’t want… We shouldn’t both—“ Her voice caught.

And Sunggyu had the sensation that they were censoring themselves because he was there. It was disconcerting.

“It’s just _lunch_ ,” Dawn’s voice shook a little.

_Sunggyu wished they weren’t there. That is was permissible for him to reach out and hold her. To stroke her hair until her breathing regained a natural rhythm again. To encourage her body to sink a little against his. To let him in, to mingle her breath with his. But he just stood silently, waiting with the door handle in his hands, feeling as though she was being pulled further and further from him with each passing moment._

“You should be allowed to be a kid…” Buffy trailed off, Sunggyu saw her squeeze Dawn’s hand.

Sunggyu cleared his throat, “I keep trying to tell you, Fei-noona and Woohyun won’t stop now that they’ve started anyway.”

The trio looked over at him and Dawn smiled, turning back to Buffy, hugging her softly, “He’s right. It’s all out of our hands now that they’re involved.”

Buffy grimaced as Dawn walked out the door and muttered, “I should have them over for dinner or something

Sunggyu and Spike stood looking at each other for a moment, the two women walking off in opposite directions, wrapped in their own thoughts. Sunggyu bowed to the older man. Spike took a step forward and looked out the door at Dawn’s retreating back.

“You told them to.”

It wasn’t a question.

Sunggyu rose to the man’s gaze. “Just Woohyun,” he admitted. “Fei-noona did it all on her own. But now…”

Spike nodded.

 

As Sunggyu jogged to catch up to Dawn, he felt as though he had just passed a test he wasn’t ready to understand. Inside the Magic Box, Spike smiled to himself for a moment before following Buffy back into the training room.


	10. In which Dawn and Sunggyu walk to the Summers house and the conversation that happens along the way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rocky beginning, but I couldn't get it to work exactly the way I wanted it to. Their conversation is a little ... inelegant. But I'm new!!! And also - these kids are awkward as all hell, it's like the only way I can figure they ever WILL communicate is through a series of epic fails.
> 
> Hope you like it!

Dawn felt Sunggyu fall in step beside her and scrambled desperately for something to say. In less than a half hour she had tricked him, he had called her out, and then her entire family (such as it was) had gone completely overboard... what did you say to someone after all that?  

How do you explain that intricate, semi-incestuous family tree?  

How sometimes Spike will smirk at Anya over the dinner table when Xander is talking and the ex-demon, who never shies away from telling them all about her past and present exploits, will actually  _blush_.  _(In the back of her mind there tickled a thought, something about Anya she was sure, but what?)_  How sometimes Buffy will get a weird look on her face still, even after all this time, when Xander and Willow reference an inside joke that she wasn't there for the first time. How occasionally Willow will get a wistful look in her eye and then disappear for hours at a time, coming back and only saying, "Cordy says hi." And the words will cause Xander's face to go soft and he'll touch Willow's arm silently. How some nights, Spike will get restless and Dawn or Buffy will find him in his crypt, piss-drunk - sometimes sobbing, sometimes angry, mostly just drunk - little episodes that remind the three of them the price of his soul. 

She cleared her throat, "My family is..." 

"Nice." His voice was clear and kind. He didn't stutter over the word and when she glanced over at him in surprise, he was looking straight at her. "Your family is nice. They love you." 

Dawn giggled and bit her lower lip  _(and then thought how ridiculous that sounded in her head - like she was the heroine in a ridiculous romance novel who was always blushing and giggling and any minute now she'd swoon and she had never bit her lip so much in her life... but every time she did, Sunggyu's eyes darkened just slightly, almost imperceptively, and an ache formed in the pit of her stomach that she tried desperately to ignore, biting down harder on her lip, which really only seemed to make matters worse)_ , "They do. Love me, I mean. Even though..."

Trying to explain the interpersonal relationships between the Scoobies was hard enough. Why did she suddenly feel like Sunggyu would completely understand if she blurted out,  _There's this whole thing where I'm a Key_? Why Sunggyu? With his prickly, conservative personality; his almost showy deference to formality and respect; the way his eyes narrowed with disapproval every time Dawn showed one of the other boys any sort of physical affection... he was in every way the very last person Dawn supposed she'd be willing to share secrets like this with. 

On the other hand...  

 _No._  

She stopped the thought.  

There was no other hand. Sunggyu was just Sunggyu. Cold and distant and prickly. 

And anyway, he didn't like her. So it wasn't worth thinking about. 

"Even though...?" He chewed on her words for a moment, "You think they'd love you more, if you all had the same parents?" 

"No!" it was an explosion of sound, more than a single word. She may have frightened him, she didn't care. The thought frightened  _her_.  

The idea had occurred to her, of course. In passing. In those moments when she was feeling particularly selfish or insecure or upset. Or when she tried to imagine what her previous existence had been... was it boring, being a ball of energy? 

What if it had been someone else? What if they had split the Key up into bits, so that the fate of the world wasn't on the shoulders of one teenage girl? 

And then she thought of Buffy. The Chosen One.

Okay. So they both had been Chosen. 

Or made. By a bunch of creepy dudes in robes, even. 

Or whatever.

And sometimes she wondered if they'd all love her more if they didn't know. 

If Glory had never come and Buffy had never died and she was the Key, but there was no reason for anyone to know. Would Xander still bring over anchovies pizza and chocolate ice cream and be utterly patient with her when she cried? Would Anya still fondly call her "little girl"? Would Willow play chess with her and teach her things behind Buffy’s back? Would Buffy get that softness in her face in those rare moments when they were allowed to slow down, look each other in the eye, and just talk? Would Giles call her from England and guide her through her translations, trying to hide the deep pride that swelled in his voice as she grew more and more proficient at research? Would Spike… 

There were limits to love, Dawn knew that. Objectively, anyway. Like a fairy tale she had once read. There were no limits to the love her family had for each other. For her. Or at least, they hadn’t found them yet, not yet.

Spike and Tara, tortured.

Buffy, dead. 

For the sake of her. 

 _And didn’t it just weigh heavy, some days?_  

She also knew that being loved as fiercely as her family loved her, didn’t mean everything was always cozy nights and happy days. It didn’t mean you weren’t still forgotten sometimes. It didn’t mean that there wasn’t still some loneliness. 

Their family was a family of warriors and knights and heroes – theirs was an existence of battles and scars and sleepless nights – with an all-consuming hunger for normalcy.

_You could get lost there._

She looked up at the boy walking beside her, “No.” She said it more softly this time. 

Maybe it wasn’t as true this time. 

Maybe they all would love her … if not more, then she knew for sure very differently if she had truly been Joyce’s daughter – born from the womb and not from magic. 

Would it be a better love?

Was there such a thing?

Would it be a different love? 

Undoubtedly. 

“I live with six other guys, Dawn-ssi.” He stopped walking and Dawn turned to face him. His gaze never left her face for a moment. “I live in a four bedroom apartment in a foreign country with six other guys I’m technically not related to. Next door to four girls I only met once we came to Sunnydale.” He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “They are my family. Even when they drive me crazy,” Dawn smiled and he winked. “I couldn’t love them more … No. Not _if we_ or _if they_ … there’s no reality in which I would care about them more just because something was different.” 

He stopped for a moment, thinking of how to explain this girl who was all fire and length and energy – who made him feel so inept and clumsy.

“That’s what family is.” 

It was the wrong thing to say. 

He used the wrong words. 

He knew it the moment the words came spilling out. When he saw her eyes lose their soft curiosity and grow hard and bright. 

Dawn bristled, “I don’t need you to tell me what family is, Kim Sunggyu.” 

Her voice was hard and brittle, she spun on her heel and started to walk away. She was seething inside. What did this pompous boy possibly think he could tell her about family that she didn’t already know? 

Sunggyu would never know what possessed him to reach out and grab her by the elbow, twirling her back toward him, her hair swirling behind her like a cloak, dragging her close to him – so close, so much closer than they had ever been _(even counting that time earlier in the week when Dongwoo had pushed her down on the couch next to Sunggyu while they watched a movie with the rest, she had been so close her hair had tickled his arm and he had sat still – so still, hardly daring to breath, afraid that she would pull away)_ , both of his hands gripped her elbows, one of her knees knocked into his leg, and under any other circumstance he may have completely lost track of what he was trying to say, with the creamy softness of her skin so warm under his palms.

“I wasn’t… I wouldn’t…” He sighed exasperatingly and tried to find a semblance of understanding in her flashing eyes. “I wasn’t trying to tell you—“ 

“I’m not good at explaining… I’m not good with words like Woohyun and Sungyeol… I was just trying to explain… How—how _I_ feel.” 

He dropped his hands from their grip on her elbows, but she didn’t move. 

“I know… it seems like I’m too hard on them – on the others… but I –“ he was stuttering, stammering around the words, the uncomfortable words that fell so harsh on his own words. “I can’t… I can only protect them for so long and then…?” 

His eyes were pleading and Dawn was slightly unsettled, by his earnestness, by his obvious discomfort, by his desperate need for her to understand, _by the warmth of his closeness_. 

And she did understand. She did. He saw it – saw her eyes soften and truly look back at him for the first time. 

For a long moment they just looked at each other, sinking into the spaces between each other they usually guarded so carefully; letting down their respective armor just a tiny bit so that the other could see. It surprised them both – to sense for the first time that protective shell the other kept so close. Dawn softened, as if she never expected that Sunggyu would feel a need to keep a part of himself separate and safe. Sunggyu wondered at this bright, loud girl with a quick smile and steely resolve, found himself in awe learning that for all she set others at ease, she too had an invisible barrier keeping people from seeing her fully.

They only caught a glimpse of the shields they each used – like a shadow one sees out of the corner of one’s eye on a dark night. Something that is there for anyone to see, but takes a different shape and shade when called attention to – when it is no longer allowed to blend into its surroundings.

And then Sunggyu saw a glint in Dawn’s eye, right before she leaned closer and said teasingly, “You old grandpa! Bad at numbers, bad at words!? What do we keep you around for, anyway?”

They walked the rest of the way to the Summers’ home comfortably, Dawn’s arm slung carelessly through his, chattering softly about nothing really.


	11. In which Dawn Summers has an entourage, Sunggyu drinks some lemonade, Spike and Woohyun finally meet, and there is a cliff hanger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N - I told Mrs. Jang this was coming: EPIC (/ridiculous) Woohyun/Spike bonding. Subtle Sunggyu/Buffy bonding. Foreshadowing abounds. WooYeol adorableness. Domestic fluff, basically. Unabashed worship of Trachtenburg/Yeollie's LEGS.

Kim Sunggyu sat stiffly at the kitchen counter of the Summers home.

 

He had much preferred the couch, where he had staunchly set himself despite Dawn’s insistence that he could come up to her room, instead of waiting in the living room by himself. When she finally let it go and trounced up the stairs hurling a final word over her shoulder, half insult, half teasing; Sunggyu was so overwhelmed with the amount of playful mocking he had just undergone, that he was relieved to sink back into the couch and have a moment to himself. Between living with all of those other boys, living next door to Fei and her girls (who were regulars in Woohyun’s kitchen), even having his “own room” was never enough space - he never had enough time just to himself. 

 

Not that he ever would begrudge the others, or wish he was alone, but sometimes... sometimes sitting on the couch in an empty space with just his thoughts was all the luxury he needed to regroup, to mentally prepare himself for being around them all again – all so full of reckless energy. And Dawn Summers seemed to be full of as much energy as all the boys together.

 

_Though Sunggyu noticed beneath her bright smile a slight drag, under her sparkling eyes those bags that never seemed to go away, behind each joke the slight echo of a yawn, and he wished she would stop trying to fill the space between them with her words and laughter, trying to keep up with her anxious energy, that was starting to grate on his already frayed nerves, that seemed to get more reckless and desperate during their walk… and it wasn’t discomfort from her teasing him (he’d never admit to anyone how pleased he was to be the point of interest in her jokes) – it was an echo of the sensation that almost completely took him over in the Magic Box, the distant desire to hold her until she stopped moving, to bask in her stillness._

 

Sometimes Sunggyu just needed to sit still and hear his own thoughts.

 

Only – it never lasted long. Less than five minutes after Dawn had made her way up the stairs, somehow managing to clatter like a _herd_ of teenage girls instead of just one the whole way up, the last few minutes punctuated with small crashes and loud exclamations, when Spike and Buffy came breezing into the living room from the back of the house. A particularly loud crash came from somewhere above their heads before the pair could say anything. Buffy raised her eyebrows when Dawn’s muffled voice unmistakably floated down, “Oops!... _shit!_ ”

 

The petite blonde turned to her boyfriend and smiled, “It’s your turn.”

 

Spike considered, “I don’t think so Slay—“ he glanced over at Sunggyu on the couch and coughed. “Sweet _heart_.” Sunggyu felt strangely that he had never heard the endearment used so sarcastically before – and again felt as though they were censoring themselves because of his presence. It was uncomfortable and confusing.

 

Buffy pouted for a moment, then turned brightly to Sunggyu, “ _You_ could go up!”

 

Spike grinned. It reminded Sunggyu of Hoya’s wolfish grin … only this was more sly, a little more lazy, but just as predatory. _If a cat could smile_.

 

Sunggyu shook his head and looked nervously at Spike – staring at him with those bright blue eyes and smiling so disconcertingly. “What if she’s… _indecent_?”

 

Sunggyu would swear later that Spike’s smile grew _hungry_ when he said that.

 

But really! What kind of man sends another man up to his sister’s room when she is obviously in the midst of changing?! No wonder Dawn always seemed to be so indelicately _free_ all the time – with a sister like this one!

 

Dawn suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs, wrapped only in a very thin towel. Sunggyu forced his eyes down immediately. _But not before he saw the way the wet towel clung to her breasts and hips, the way her long legs gleamed with moisture – all, all the way up – the way the towel broke apart to allow her to walk, leaving one hip bone nearly exposed, the way her long wet hair still seemed to crackle with energy, even when weighed down with water, the way her pale skin seemed to emit its own glow against the backdrop of her dark hair, her bright eyes… but not before his heart started to pound with the intimate exposure of her length and length and—_

 

“Spike! Thank _gods_ you’re here! Come help me. I can’t decide what to wear!” her voice was almost lost under the sound of her feet colliding with the floor as she walked away. “What do you wear to a dance recital, anyway?!”

 

Buffy looked incredibly smug as Spike followed Dawn up the stairs with a short sigh. She whispered conspiratorially to Sunggyu, “He acts like he hates it, but honestly he loves it and has a much better eye than I do for what looks right on her.” Then she beamed at him, as if they were both in on a delicious joke.

 

He smiled shyly back. Then looked back upstairs nervously, “Woohyun is going to be here soon with the car…”

 

“Don’t worry about it. Now that Spike’s up there…” they both winced at the sound of another crash and then two voices swearing in unison. “Well… things should speed up soon. She isn’t usually so high maintenance.”

 

They stood awkwardly for a moment or so, Buffy occasionally scratching her left elbow, Sunggyu desperately searching for something to say.

 

_I think I’m in love with your sister._

_Too soon._

_Too awkward._

_And anyway, completely irrelevant._

 

The doorbell rang. Buffy muttered to herself as she walked to the door, but Sunggyu couldn’t quite catch what she was saying. He only hoped he wasn’t supposed to hear it or respond.

 

It was only Woohyun. Sunggyu breathed a sigh of relief as he bowed deeply and respectfully to Buffy.

 

“Annyong!” Sungyeol’s bright voice came from behind him, where Sunggyu couldn’t see from his position in the living room. “Is Dawnie ready yet?”

 

They came inside, Woohyun smiling at Buffy – who seemed a little starstruck ( _who wasn’t stunned by Woohyun when they first met him?_ The thought was 90% fierce pride and admiration… Sunggyu only allowed the smallest part of his heart to hold that small spark of bitterness and envy he allowed himself once in a while, all wrapped up in self-deprecation and self-doubt).

 

“Yeollie?!” Dawn’s voice shouted down. “Come rescue me from this madman!”

 

Sungyeol went down on one knee at the foot of the stairs and held one arm out towards her voice, “Princess Dawn! I come to avenge thee!” And then he grabbed Woohyun’s hand in his, their fingers twining together in that special way that always made Sunggyu’s heart lurch slightly _– really sometimes the two of them were just obscene, the way they touched each other_ – and the two disappeared in the direction of Dawn’s trilling laughter and Spike’s unrestrained swearing.

 

His eyes lingered on the stairs. He refused to be jealous of those two immature idiots, now cocooned in Dawn’s private, mysterious space. It wasn’t like she hadn’t urged him to come up…

 

 _Idiot_.

 

When Sunggyu turned back to Buffy, her mouth had formed a perfectly round, unspoken “oh!” and all he could think to do was shrug at her helplessly. The last thing he needed was for her to ask questions. How on earth could he explain to her Dongwoo? He still didn’t know how to explain the three of them to himself most days, except with an overwhelming sense of admiration and protectiveness. He hadn’t been lying to Dawn earlier that day – those boys (not so much Hoya and Sungjong as much as the others, whom he knew when push came to shove would protect each other with a fierceness that would be mighty to behold, and would leave very little room for any of Sunggyu’s clumsy and ineffectual efforts) seemed to be constantly in threat of the world chewing them up and spitting them back out, broken and irreparable – some days Sunggyu felt like the only, very small, barrier between them and their inevitably broken hearts.

 

She cocked her head at him, “Drink?”

 

 

And that’s how Sunggyu ended up at the kitchen counter of the Summers’ home, a glass of lemonade sitting in front of him, talking comfortably with Dawn’s older sister about his family, the boys, his classes at UC Sunnydale.

 

After a few minutes, Sungyeol joined them with an annoyed look on his face, looking a little frazzled, the wide collar of his shirt hanging off of one shoulder. “It’s a good thing we didn’t bring Sungjong with us! Between the three of them, Dawn would end up at the recital in a towel.” _Sunggyu tried not to let himself think that that wasn’t the worst idea he had heard that day_.

 

Buffy handed him a glass of lemonade, “Got to be too much for you?”

 

Sungyeol blew a lock of his long hair out of his face in exasperation, “Those _two!_ ” He shook his head, “Hyung… you won’t believe it. They’re…” He turned his attention back to Buffy and narrowed your eyes, “Between your boyfriend and mine – I almost ended up in _your_ leather pants!”

 

Buffy blanched. Sunggyu tried to hide his smile behind his cup.

 

“That’s not true,” Woohyun walked up behind Sungyeol, kissing his exposed shoulder quickly and then snatching the lemonade away, taking a long gulp. “They were way too short for your long legs and you know it.”

 

“I don’t know,” Spike drawled lazily from the doorway. “I thought that was part of the perk? At least half of his calves would be exposed…”

 

“At least,” Woohyun nodded seriously.

 

Sungyeol bristled and the other two men laughed.

 

 _What the hell happened up there?_ Sunggyu had never seen Woohyun attach himself to anyone so quickly. And there he was – teasing Sungyeol with Spike like they had done this every day of their lives.

 

Buffy also seemed surprised – and … _relieved_?

 

He didn’t have time to think more on that, because Woohyun was whistling softly – clapping Spike on the back – and Sungyeol was twirling Dawn around the kitchen as Buffy cooed softly, “That dress!”

 

Dawn beamed, “I forgot I had this! Mom—“ her voice caught, but only Sunggyu and Buffy seemed to notice. “Anyway, it’s old. And I haven’t worn it in forever because it just didn’t seem right – but Woohyun saw that the floral outer layer could be taken off easily and Yeollie found a black ribbon somewhere… and isn’t it just loverly?!”

 

She was wearing a strappy, pale blue dress with an empire waist accented with a thin black ribbon, falling to mid-thigh. On anyone else as tall as Dawn, it may have looked childlike and a little ridiculous,  but with her hair softly curling around her shoulders and falling down her back, a pair of black heels, the barest trace of glitter and thick, dark eyeliner framing her eyes, she looked… dark and regal.

 

“You’re like the gothic version of Alice!” Willow said from the doorway. “And those legs! Sis – you have some damn fine legs. And I say that with both my lesbian card _and_ big sister card!”

 

Sunggyu wasn’t sure when Willow had arrived. He didn’t much care. He was too distracted.

 

“But won’t you get cold? It’s so short,” Buffy muttered under her breath – her concern completely lost in what happened next.

 

“Almost put Prince Yeollie’s legs to shame!” Woohyun twinkled in response to Willow’s comment.

 

Sunggyu thought Woohyun and Spike would end in a fist fight – if Sungyeol didn’t burst in and punch one of them himself, the two arguing over the effect of Dawn’s legs versus Sungyeol’s, but within half a minute they were laughing together and had somehow escorted the other two out to the car.

 

Sunggyu stood in the kitchen for a moment and then turned to Buffy, “Th-thank you so much for…?”

 

Buffy laughed and dragged him toward the door. “Just take care of my girl, okay? And …” She paused at the front door, suddenly turning serious, “Call Spike to come get her at the end of the night.” She shook her head when he started to protest, “Spike’s… an… I guess you could say he’s an insomniac. And Dawn doesn’t have much of a curfew.”

 

Sunggyu bowed and murmured something in response before heading to the car, where Woohyun and Spike were standing, heads bowed and talking very seriously about something. He wasn’t about to hazard a guess as to what. He suddenly had a terrible knot in the pit of his stomach that he had been fighting off for most of the day. Behind him, he heard Buffy call to him, “Even if you are going to drive, please call first!”

 

Spike nodded to him as he walked past, resting his hand on Sunggyu’s shoulder for the shortest moment. As if in solidarity. A simple, unspoken understanding passed between them.

 

Sunggyu just wasn’t sure what about.

 

Woohyun waited at the car, all the doors shut, the faint cries of Sungyeol complaining from the backseat coming through distilled and nearly inaudible. “Are you nervous?”

 

Sunggyu looked deep into his friend’s eyes for a moment before replying, his tone short and a little snappish, “Ya Nam Woohyun!” His eyes flickered to the girl in the backseat, tucked up against Sungyeol, giggling at something he was showing her on his phone, a girl with legs to rival even their own Lee Sungyeol’s. And then he didn’t know whether he felt depleted or full or nervous or numb.

 

“What do you think?”


	12. In which Dawn Summers is surprised... and we are all glad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N:: I fully admit taking bits of ideas/the setting of this chapter from L's toaster 'verse. I hope she'll forgive me. But it had to be done.
> 
> ((Also - I apologize if the "Family" stuff is getting a little too... heavy-handed.))

She was sitting in the middle of a crowd of people who all seemed delighted to see her, there was a restless and nervous energy as they all waited for the performances to start, she was full of compliments and Woohyun had sought out coffee for her and Sungyeol, but she hardly noticed.

Dawn Summers was exhausted.

Excited to see Dongwoo’s performance, yes - of course. Thrilled to be surrounded by friends who were so happy to see her and each other. Happy to be out of the house on a weekend evening for any reason other than patrolling. (Still wondering why Buffy and Spike hadn’t tried to talk her out of it.)

She was also barely hanging on.

It wasn’t as if she wasn’t used to this. But usually on Saturday afternoons, she napped.

Okay, so she had a regular napping schedule. So she was the younger sister to the Slayer. She depended on those mid-afternoon naps to keep her going.

And really, it wouldn’t have mattered so much that she missed today’s. Saturday afternoons were rarely an exact science. Only the night before, she had stayed up late trying to get a translation done for Giles by morning in London; and only a couple hours after she had sent off the email, she was woken up when Buffy and Spike came home from patrol.

To be fair, they had tried to keep quiet. They always tried. She always heard them anyway.

And when she walked into the kitchen to see Spike pushing Buffy’s dislocated shoulder back into place, a huge gash on his own arm spilling fresh blood all over the counter... well, it ended up being a long night.

And though they sent her to bed with the chance for at least five hours of uninterrupted rest before she needed to be up and at the Magic Box... sleep had completely eluded her. As of late, she’d had a strange tickling at the back of her mind - like she was forgetting something desperately important, but she couldn’t figure out what it was. She felt, some nights, like the answer was turning her round and round in her brain on purpose. Like a puppy chasing its own tail. Like she already had the answer and it was laughing at her, was somehow a part of her. It was unsettling - made her feel nervous and on edge. Mostly at night, when everything was still.

Sungyeol said something and Woohyun laughed, breaking Dawn’s train of thought. She looked around and then turned to Sungjong, who was sitting on the other side of her, with Suji cheerfully munching on candy beside him, “Where are Myungsoo and Sunggyu?” It was odd to see Sungyeol without Myungsoo beside him. (Though she had noticed that he seemed just as close with Woohyun - a friendship she would never have pegged as being so intimate.)

Sungjong raised his eyebrows, “You don’t know?”

Sungjong seemed to exist in a permanent state of incredulity when dealing with other humans.

Fei reached up from where she was sitting behind them and brushed Dawn’s hair away from her face gently, “Oh they're just backstage with Dongwoo - he was feeling awfully nervous.”

Sungjong rolled his eyes, “Dongwoo never gets nervous before a performance--”

Dawn heard Woohyun mutter something under his breath and Sungyeol whisper something back - as if in comfort.

Hoya tugged on a lock of Sungjong’s hair from his seat next to Jia, “Everyone gets nervous sometimes, Jjongy.”

Suji tapped Sungjong’s arm and dramatically whispered something in his ear. He fixed Dawn with a bright smile afterwards, putting his arm around Suji and squeezing her to him, “Right. He’s … nervous.”

Everyone was smiling just a bit too broadly... but Dawn really didn’t have the energy to try to puzzle any of it out. She shrugged and took a long gulp of her coffee. After a few more moments of chatter, the lights dimmed and the performances began.

Some of them weren’t very good. And when Dawn realized that Dongwoo was the very last to perform, she started getting antsy. She wished she could look at a program, keep herself aware of how much time had passed, how much more was left to sit through, but everyone appeared to lose theirs in some bizarre twist of fate, staring at her blankly when she asked to see one.

Not that she was irritated.

After the intermission, Hoya squeezed Jia’s hand shortly and then left to join Dongwoo, Myungsoo, and Sunggyu backstage. Dawn had heard the two of them making snarky comments to each other about the performers, their costume choices, the music choices... anything really, throughout the entire first half of the recital. Fei kept shushing them, but still there came a steady stream of comments - quietly enough so that not many people could hear, Dawn only picked up some of what was being said, but Fei was sitting next to Jia and could hear every word.... Mostly what Dawn could hear was Fei scolding them (or occasionally laughing) and the rare chuckle from Sungjong when their voices carried.

The second half of the recital comprised of only three performers - according to the announcement made over an intercom. She could only hope it was correct, since Sungjong had given her such a sneer when she asked him to look at the program (mysteriously found and in his hands once more) that she didn’t dare push it.

She leaned her head against Sungyeol’s shoulder and yawned; finally allowing herself to show how tired she was. Yeollie rested his cheek against the top of her head, “You okay?”

She nodded. “Just … tired.”

He wrapped one of his long arms around her and pulled her into his chest, “You won’t regret staying. I promise.”

Dawn just nodded in return. She didn’t regret being there, she just needed to rest her head for a moment. And Sungyeol's shoulder was always so accommodating... Dongwoo moreso and Myungsoo a little insistently. 

When the lights started flickering - signalling wanderers back to their seats - Fei pressed a second cup of hot coffee into her hands silently before going back to her own seat, a look of sisterly concern hovering in her eyes (shooing off Sungyeol’s inquiries for his own).

The second half was far more interesting than the first, Dawn thought. Though it could have just been the coffee. Or Sungyeol’s mounting nervousness beside her.

In the darkness before Dongwoo began, Dawn turned to him and whispered harshly, “What are you so nervous about, anyway?”

Woohyun grabbed Sungyeol’s hand with both of his and shot Dawn a glance, “Not nearly as nervous as me.” His smile towards the stage was more like a grimace, Sungyeol draped his other hand over Woohyun’s and Dawn turned away as they comforted each other.

_Drama Queens._

She heard Suji squeal softly, “This is it!”

A single spotlight illuminated Dongwoo appeared - dressed in skintight white shorts and a tanktop, in the shadows behind him Dawn saw Hoya dressed in a black echo of Dongwoo’s outfit. On the left side of the stage, almost hidden, there were two stools and microphones, dimly lit with a bluish glow. Dongwoo smiled at the audience.

“We don’t usually announce anything before... But I just wanted everyone in the audience to know how much this was truly a group effort. Without my... family, this dream could not have come true.” He paused for a moment, as if waiting, then held out his arm to the stools, “I literally forced some of them to come on stage with me tonight, please accept our hard work.” He bowed.

Then everyone waited in silence as two black-clad figures took seat on the stools.

Everyone except Dawn, who gasped a little too loudly. And little Min behind her, who giggled with excitement and was shushed by Fei.

Myungsoo - holding a guitar, sat on one stool. Looking terrified for his life.

On the other sat Sunggyu.

It all began at once, Myungsoo softly strumming on the guitar; Dongwoo’s controlled, fluid movements; Hoya a shadow, an echo hovering in the background; the beat of their feet on the ground; Sunggyu’s voice.

_Sunggyu’s voice._

The four of them seemed born to harmonize together, Dongwoo’s movements the logical extension of Sunggyu’s surprising voice, Hoya the shadow to the dance, an echo of Myungsoo’s guitar, the pounding feet on the floor keeping a perfect rhythm to the music, tying the sound and movement together perfectly. All completely controlled, completely at one with each other; yet free.... a perfect explosion of energy and symmetry, freedom and restraint. 

It was an exercise of balance in every way.

Of finding balance.

At times, Sunggyu's voice turned thick, raspy, and with it, Dongwoo's motions became slower, there was a sense of moving stillness in his motions. At other times, Sunggyu's voice became sweet, soft, while Dongwoo moved faster, more erratically, his feet pounding on the floor as if to drown out the sound of Sunggyu's words. Woohyun and Myungsoo's parts likewise ebbed and flowed around and between each other, between the other three - a complete composition of push and pull.

Dawn saw, too - these four: two extroverts with smiles for everyone, two introverts brimming with so much need; two dancers - complete in their bodies, two artists - complete in such a different form of expression. These personalities that balanced each other, that worked and lived well side-by-side; that were even more complete with the other three there, too. The seven of them pushing and pulling and demanding balance of each other - finding it only through a constant give and take.

It was genius. It was perfect. It meant so much more to those sitting there beside her, she sensed. They all could see Dongwoo performing his ridiculous family unit, expressing the energy and collision of their lives through raw movement and sound. She heard Fei sniff softly and Jia murmer to her. She felt Sungyeol shift as he put his arm around Woohyun. 

 _Family_.

Dawn would never admit this, but everything seemed to blur together after a while. She knew that Dongwoo was beyond incredible - that Hoya’s presence revealed his own talent, while still existing primarily to accentuate Dongwoo’s movements - but she hardly saw them; the flashing of black and white on the stage, tumbling and leaping over and around each other, blurred.

All she was really ever conscious of was Sunggyu’s voice.

(And also a little bit, the look of pure rapture and ecstasy on his face as he sang.)

_(It was erotic, his face, she decided; but wouldn’t let herself admit.)_

She leaned forward a little bit in her chair, trying to get closer to the sound, to its raw sensuality. Sensual not just in Sunggyu’s sudden (and surprising) evocative sexuality... but also just in the raw physicality of it. As if the notes were made tangible as they passed from his lips; as if she could reach out and touch them; as if she would finally understand something absolute when she held his voice in her hands. As if he were touching her somewhere she had never known could be exposed.

She was the only one that didn’t notice him watching her as he sang.

 

As the song started to dwindle down, Sunggyu’s voice softening, stretching out, wriggling back into the hidden spaces from which it came, an irrational thought began to take form. Hoya stilled, Myungsoo's strumming softened and finally ebbed away. Last was Sunggyu's voice - one note held long and low, dwindling away slowly. When all that was left was Dongwoo's body on the stage, moving in silence, hard and fast in an explosion of emotion, Dawn was jolted back to reality, unstuck from the sound of Sunggyu's voice. And when all was still - in that split second between Dongwoo's final head bow and the crowd erupting into applause, that thought finally took root:

_Xander is never going to believe they aren’t demons now._


	13. In which I finally give you a plot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> summary: bro-bonding; the first meeting of the "long-suffering wives club"; gyu gee gee being ridiculous; bros are the most important thing in the world; bro-cuddling
> 
> this is a chapter about bros
> 
> a/n: I'm actually pretty proud of this chapter. I've been holding off on doing this for a while ... sort of loitering around. But I'm finally comfortable with where I am and where the characters are to let them go here.

Everyone roared to their feet, the auditorium erupting into a bright cascade of clapping and whistling and excited shouting, talking, laughing. Dawn had been hauled to her feet with the rest – though from her own accord or some combined effort of Sungyeol and Sungjong, she wasn’t sure. Nor did she care.  
  
Suji was jumping up and down with excitement, talking quickly in Sungjong’s ear – who was beaming up at the stage. Behind her, Dawn could hear Min’s small voice, a strange mixture of languages erupting from her tiny body that only Jia seemed to understand fully, who was laughing and holding on to Fei.  
  
Hoya, with his wolfish smile, was the first to hop down from the stage. Ignoring the stairs and proper etiquette, he leaped right down to Jia and kissing her firmly on the mouth; then sweeping Min up into a big bear hug, twirling her around as she squealed with delight. Even though Min was only a few months younger than her, Dawn often forgot how close in age they were. Min had less of a grasp on English than any of the others and had chosen to be home-schooled by Jia that year to focus on her language skills, rather than struggle through public school. In comparison to Suji’s natural reserve, Min seemed to have no end of energy. She sometimes seemed to wiggle with the excess trying to seep out of her skin. She was much more shy with Dawn, but always very at home and playful with the boys; teasing them and playing with them in a boyish way.   
  
Right as Dawn turned back, Dongwoo had just walked up to them and was promptly accosted by Sungyeol, who ducked down and kissed his cheek chastely, and then Woohyun, whose kiss was neither chaste nor quick nor on his cheek.   
  
And the funny thing was, when Woohyun reached up and pulled Sungyeol away from Dongwoo by the hair so he could kiss the smaller man properly, it didn’t surprise her at all.  
  
“Dawn.”  
  
She turned and there was Spike.   
  
And something was wrong.   
  
“Spike?” she reached out and there was a hand, soft, warm, twining between her fingers and pressing into her skin for support and comfort. “Spike, what? … It isn’t--?” But the thought got caught in her throat and all there was in her range of consciousness was Spike’s eyes, her own fear, and a hand caught in hers.  
  
“No – well. Buffy’s fine.”  
  
Fei broke through and bowed softly to Spike. “Annyong. Is everything okay?” Her eyes were full of concern. Through the haze, Dawn realized that her own small group had grown still. They were all waiting with her.  
  
Spike bobbed to her, “Yes and no. It’s just… Willow. It’s Anya. Willow needs your help, little bit.”  
  
Well that wasn’t cryptic at all. Dawn nodded and took a breath, ready to turn and make her apologies when out of the corner of her eye…  
  
 _All around there was only dust and death and sweat._  
  
 _She was in a pit. There was nothing left. She was running and running and running._  
  
 _There were others – they were lost – where was …?_  
  
… a striking woman. Her head was shaved just above her ears, long dark hair flowing down over her face so that Dawn couldn’t see. But when she passed…  
  
 _The world was spinning and everything was too still and couldn’t they feel it, too?_  
  
 _Screaming._  
  
 _She was screaming._  
  
 _She was searching for something, what… something._  
  
 _Bones. All around her bones and dust._  
  
… she had the uneasy sensation that she had seen her before – had seen that gentle sway, the tattoos of knives on exposed hipbones, the long sinewy arms lifted…  
  
 _The memory of the brightest light, a smile, an explosion, an admission…_  
  
 _Then running._  
  
 _Running from the screams from the death from the end._  
  
 _And why couldn’t they hear it too??!_  
  


*              *              *              *              *              *

  
  
“Want a drink?”   
  
Buffy looked up toward the voice. She had been standing slumped against the kitchen counter, her head in her hands. It had been four hours since Anya was injured in the Magic Box by an unknown demon. Three since Spike had come home, Dawn in Sunggyu’s arms. Only three hours since Buffy’s heart felt like it might stop right in her chest at the sight of her sister, so small, carried like a sleeping child in the arms of a strange boy with a haggard look in his eye.   
  
 _He loves her_.   
  
It was the millionth, second, third thought that crossed through Buffy’s scattered mind. Just after:  _Please not again_ and  _who will help Willow bring back Anya?_  
  
If there was ever a moment when she needed a drink, it was right now. She nodded at the girl standing awkwardly in the doorway, her hair an odd color of orange that seemed to express her quirky personality almost as much as her wide, honest smile. “Buffy, right?” She said. Her accent was slightly thicker than the others’ Buffy noted as she nodded in assent. The girl smiled as she opened two bottles of cheap beer Spike kept stashed in the basement fridge for those odd nights when he wanted something lighter, “Jia.”  
  
Buffy shuddered as she took a long draft of the foul liquid. She would never develop a taste for alcohol. Even if she had developed a need for it that night. “You’re still here?”  
  
Jia took a sip of the beer in her hand and grimaced, staring at the bottle. “Where is the bag Hoya dropped off?” Buffy shrugged and they looked around the kitchen. Jia found it folded neatly and set on the dining room table. At the sight, she smiled and skipped over to open the freezer door, pulling out a green bottle that was just beginning to frost. “My man. I trained him well,” she said it with a giggle, a little tongue in cheek – as if she really had nothing to do with Hoya’s manners. Jia found shot glasses and poured one for herself and Buffy. They clinked and swung, and then Buffy started coughing.  
  
“Soju,” Jia choked out between her laughter. “It’ll grow on you.”  
  
After the fourth shot, Buffy asked again. “You’re still here?”  
  
Jia shrugged, “Fei.”  
  
Maybe it was the soju, or maybe it was just the way Jia said it, but it made perfect sense to Buffy that Jia would stay as long as Fei did. That she would send her boyfriend away and do shots in a strange kitchen with a girl she didn’t know, because Fei was upstairs.  
  
About a half hour after Sunggyu had shouldered his way through the Summer’s door and carried Dawn up to her room (laying her gently on the bed, taking off her shoes with care, covering her with a thin blanket as Spike whispered to Buffy where they stood in the doorway watching helplessly  _He wouldn’t let her go. Even in the car. Sat with her in his lap. I couldn’t shake him._ ) the doorbell had rung and there stood Jia, Fei, Woohyun, Hoya, and Dongwoo – each with a pot of food in their hands.   
  
Fei had marched straight up to Buffy, as Spike gently lead Woohyun upstairs to where Sunggyu sat vigil over Dawn, and said, “Something is wrong with Anya. I can help.” Buffy had started to protest, but Fei had just grabbed her arm, “Trust me.”  
  
Willow was waiting for word from the nearest coven – somewhere in the suburbs of Los Angeles – but the chances of them having a witch skilled enough to help Willow was doubtful. And though Dawn wasn’t as skilled as Willow,  her  _energy_  was inexhaustible. They had yet to set aside time to figure out what being the Key might mean for Dawn’s future, but for now she was as good to Willow in terms of strength and power as a whole coven of  _skilled_ witches. And they were starting to work well together, Dawn picking up little tricks and able to assist more and more. But she remained somewhat fearful, though mostly apathetic, to witchcraft – no matter how much Willow cajoled her into trying more.   
  
Whatever was in the wound on Anya’s arm, it needed a magickal cure.  
  
But Buffy’s mind was on her comatose sister lying in her bed upstairs. She shrugged and gestured Fei up and went to hide in the kitchen.  
  
Which had either been the best idea or the worst.   
  
She walked in to see Hoya holding Jia to his chest, one hand lost in her long hair, the other grasping her waist. He saw Buffy come in and nodded respectfully, whispering to Jia and kissing her forehead before turning to leave.  
  
“Suji and Min need to be in bed by midnight!”   
  
He didn’t turn or pause, “I know.”  
  
“And don’t let Min have too much dairy.”  
  
“I know.”  
  
“Don’t let the younger ones worry about Dawnie too much.”  
  
“I know.”  
  
She started to follow him, calling out instructions to his retreating back as he kept walking. She could hear Woohyun giving Dongwoo similar instructions at the door.He was still here – in the living room with a bottle of something dark being passed between him and Spike in the dark.  
  
Buffy took another shot and shuddered, looking into her glass. “When will I get used to it?”  
  
Jia laughed, “I don’t think  _you_  will.” Her tone was teasing, light-hearted. Buffy giggled back and started to pour another. Jia snatched the bottle out of her hand. “I know it doesn’t seem like it, but your legs probably don’t work right now. Take it easy.”   
  
Buffy looked blearily at her, “I’m not a lightweight.”  
  
“Sure you’re not. Just wait ‘till you try walking after six shots of soju on an empty stomach.” Jia hopped off her stool lightly. “But wait for me to get back, because I want to see you try. Where’s the toilet?”  
  
Buffy waved her hand toward the stairs, “Up and end of the hall.”  
  
“Sweet. Thanks.” She skipped away, calling over her shoulder, “Please stay on your stool, kay?”  
  
Willow trotted down the stairs as Jia went up, coming into the kitchen with a sigh, “Who  _are_  these people?” She lifted the lid of one of the pots Hoya and Dongwoo had put into the fridge and sniffed, smiling and pulling it out, along with a tupperware of something that from the outside looked like spaghetti, but Buffy was sure it wasn’t. “That Fei girl? Most powerful wicca I’ve ever come across. But not like… I don’t know how to explain it. Her magick was so different from mine, it took us a while to get in synch and then it was like BOOM.”  
  
Buffy rubbed her elbow with one hand, “Wait. Start from the beginning. Fei’s wicca?”  
  
“I don’t think so. I mean.. yes and no. I don’t think she’d necessarily call it that. Wicca is very Western, you know.”  
  
Buffy shook her head.  _How could she possibly know a factoid like that? Especially after a night like this?_  
  
Willow held out a forkful of the spaghetti-looking substance, “Kimchi? It’s really good.”  
  
Buffy wrinkled her nose and the smell and felt her stomach roll.   
  
Jia was in the doorway laughing. “Oh I don’t think she can stomach anything right now. Just took six shots of soju in less than an hour. Probably should just go to bed.” She clapped Buffy hard on the back.  
  
“I’m  _fine_.”  
  
“Sure. How are your legs?”  
  
“Perfect! Never worked better. I have fabulous legs. Always do what I tell them.  _Verrrry_  obedient.”  
  
“Show me.”  
  
It was a trap. Buffy should have known that. But she wasn’t expecting the whole world to start swaying – it was usually so calm and still, such a nice world not letting its inhabitants know how fast it spun through the galaxy, and now suddenly that fact was all too clear to Buffy and where her knees buckling?!  
  
Jia grabbed her around the waist and pulled Buffy’s arm over her shoulder, Willow quickly coming to her other side. “Time for bed, kid.”  
  
“But Dawnie…” her tongue felt thick. That was odd. She knew her tongue fit in her mouth when she woke up that morning.  
  
Jia tsked in her throat. “Someone in this house needs a full night’s rest and it’s not going to be those drama queens in the living room, so it might as well be us.”  
  
Somehow they were already in Buffy’s room and Willow was putting a soft t-shirt over her head and Jia turned down the covers and she was being tucked in like a toddler and it felt so nice to be surrounded by such fluffy soft things but then – “Wait!” They looked down at her. “You’re going to leave me  _alone_?”  
  
Jia smiled, “I figured you’d want ---“  
  
“No! damnit if Spike could drown himself in a bottle of whiskey with his new best pal and if Sunggyu was going to stay with Dawn all night and anyway Anya is in Willow’s bed and …”  
  
“Shh… we’ll stay.”   
  
Willow climbed into bed on one side and Jia on the other, Buffy grabbed their hands and pulled them to her chest. “You guys are  _so nice_. The nicest.”  
  
Jia chuckled and it was low and genuine and Buffy smiled.   
  
Over her head, Willow whispered, “Jia? The food…”  
  
“Don’t worry about it,” Jia yawned. “Fei will be looking for something productive to do in an hour or so. It’ll keep her from organizing the recycling.”  
  
And Buffy snored in agreement.  
  


*              *              *              *              *              *              *             

  
  
Sunggyu heard Woohyun come up and try talking to him.   
  
But he didn’t respond.   
  
What was there to say, “Sorry but the girl that I love is in a coma and I’m not budging?”  
  
Words are redundant.  
  
He heard Buffy stumble into bed with a giggling Jia and Willow.  
  
He heard Spike pace the hallway until Woohyun and Fei calmly lead him back downstairs.   
  
He felt the sunrise slowly enter the room; felt it before he saw it. The heat. The simple life of it warming his cold limbs, frozen in place as if in a spell.  
  
She had reached for his hand, had took it in her, had twined his fingers through hers, had squeezed it in her fear… She had reached for him. And he wasn’t letting go until she woke up.  
  
He heard the other house occupants starting to stir.   
  
“They’re waiting for you,” he whispered.  
  
He was teasing her.  
  
He needed her to wake up so that she could hear that he was teasing her.  
  
“We’re all waiting for you.”  
  
He reached up and brushed a lock of hair from her face, caressing the line of her jaw with his fingertip.  
  
He held her hand and waited.  
  
Around noon, as near as he could figure, the door opened slowly and Spike walked in – a very hungover Buffy teetering behind him.  
  
“Any change?” she whispered.  
  
“No,” he shook his head and sighed.  
  
He needed to stretch. There was a crick in his neck. He needed to pee, to get a drink of water. He would wait – but he needed to be ready when she woke up.  
  
Her sister was here now, he could take just ten minutes to…  
  
But as he slid his hand out of hers, she grabbed it and shot straight up, eyes wide.  
  
“I need a phone.”  
  
“Dawn!!!” Buffy started crying and rushed to the bed, babbling incoherently. Spike swore and Sunggyu could hear Woohyun and the others bound up the stairs.  
  
“Everybody shut up. I need a phone I said,” Dawn was obviously impatient. Like she had just been taking a simple nap and in the meantime everyone had lost their minds.  
  
Her thumb rubbed purposefully over his knuckles and he looked back at her, she smiled shyly at him.   
  
“I was waiting,” he said stupidly.  
  
“I know.” She turned back to her sister, Sunggyu’s hand still firmly gripped in her own. “Buffy. Listen. I need a phone. Right now.”  
  
Buffy wiped her eyes, “But why? Dawnie what happened?”   
  
And then everyone was talking at once again, Willow and Fei in a corner arguing about magick, Jia trying to calm them down, Woohyun silently watching Spike pace the floor and mutter to himself…  
  
Dawn turned back to him, her eyes clear.  
  
He pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her, adjusting himself to sit on the bed facing her as he did so. She squeezed his hand softly and then took the phone from him, concentrating as she dialed.  
  
With the phone pressed against one ear, she held up her hand to silence everyone, setting it down on Sunggyu’s thigh as she bit her lip and waited for the connection.  
  
“Angel, what the fuck did you do?”


	14. In which more is explained, world-building happens, I am surprised, and Faith is on the way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a/n: not exactly what I was expecting - Fei surprised me a bit in this chapter, but I'm pretty happy with her backstory - hope you all are, too!

Spike smiled and gently rested the phone back in its cradle, patting Sunggyu on the back. It wasn’t really fair of Dawn to have him make that phone call to Faith. On the other hand, he was the only one who seemed unaffected by the bomb that had just gone off upstairs.

 

All anyone heard from that phonecall was Dawn’s anger. The minute Angel’s name passed her lips, Spike’s brain had started to buzz, as if there was something blocking him from hearing what was happening. Willow and Fei had gone very still, like cats right before they pounce. Buffy didn’t seem to be aware of anything at all, so overwhelmed with her relief at the younger girl’s swift recovery.

 

And then it was all action, Dawn barking out orders at a room full of her shell-shocked friends as if she hadn’t been in some sort of mystical coma for nearly 20 hours. Only Sunggyu seemed capable of comprehending her words and Spike had found him downstairs with the phone in his hand, stuttering at a frustrated Faith. Who somehow was already on her way.

 

He had been in the room when Giles and Wesley had explained Faith’s blood magic, how bonding with Ruby had strengthened an aspect of her Slayer powers that no one even remembered existing. She knew things instinctively – especially about Dawn sometimes – that couldn’t be explained. Spike rubbed his face with his hand and wondered whether the kitchen was empty; it had been a long night and he needed some blood to keep going. Sunggyu had already bounded back up the stairs to Dawn’s side, so Spike turned towards the kitchen.

 

The girl Jia with the orange hair, the one who got Buffy drunk the night before and seemed to be some bright shadow to Fei (who had spent the night holding Woohyun’s hand as they all drank and waited for morning, for Dawn to wake up, for Sunggyu to blink or move, for the witch to tell them what to do next). She smiled brightly at him and pulled something red and smelling of blood out of the microwave.

 

“Hungry?” She thrust the bowl and a spoon at him and took it gratefully. It smelled spicy and raw, it would tide him over until he could get some blood.

 

Only, the first sip revealed that the bowl in his hand was mostly blood. He set the bowl down on the table roughly, “What is this?”

 

Fei came in behind him and put a soft hand on the small of his back, peering over his shoulder. “He doesn’t like it?”

 

Jia shrugged, “I made it just the way we always have?”

 

The two small women looked at him inquisitively.

 

“This is … blood.”

 

Jia’s laugh erupted out of her almost harshly.

 

“Pig’s blood.” Fei frowned at Jia, who had shrunk to the ground and was still giggling. “It’s a ramen, basically. But I boil a pig’s heart in the broth and then slice it thin before adding the noodles. I made a whole pot for you fresh last night. If you don’t like it…”

 

Jia stood up, “It’s just that no vamp has ever turned down Fei’s ramen before.”

 

Okay, well this day just kept getting weirder and weirder.

 

 “Our village…” Fei trailed off and looked over at Jia for help. The younger girl instantly sobered.

 

“Tiny place, home. Ran by an old vampire warlord for generations. Mostly peaceful. If you call living in a village run by a vamp peaceful. He had no delusions of grandeur, kept out other demons pretty successfully. Fei’s family…”

 

“My mother, my grandmother, every woman before her – we were employed in his kitchen. Chefs to a vampire.” She said it as if it were the punchline to a joke she had heard too many times. “Until…”

 

“Until we left,” Jia said a little too brightly, digging into a cupboard for something.

 

“But…” Spike shifted uncomfortably.

 

“Oh!” Fei laughed and seemed to shrug off a light tension that had settled around her shoulders during their conversation. “You don’t really think you’re _hiding_ it from anyone do you?”

 

And then they were both laughing at him, but with a charm and affection that reminded him of the way Buffy and Dawn would sometimes laugh at Xander’s antics, or one of Giles’ stories. The way they sometimes laughed at him when he was trying very hard to be serious and stern with them.

 

Spike sat at the kitchen counter and watched the two women weave comfortably around each other in the Summers’ kitchen, sipping at the ramen (which was much better than blood and wheat-a-bits he had to admit) while they made pancakes and talked softly to each other in their mother tongue.

 

_“Unni, do you really think that was wise?”_

_“Pass me the chocolate chips.”_

_“I don’t like this.”_

_“You went along with it anyway, why ask now? It’s already done.”_

_“What good did it do?”_

_“It’s not in our hands anymore.”_

_“The boys…”_

_“Will adapt.”_

_“You are pushing this. Why?”_

_“The comas, Dawn-ssi, this family…”_

_“It’s weird, isn’t it? It feels weird.”_

_“Grandmother said something…”_

_“Before we left?”_

_“In a letter…”_

_“Oh! Don’t pour that yet!”_

_“That She would be closer here. To trust.”_

_“I don’t believe in fate.”_

_“Says the Chosen One.”_

_“Knock it off.”_

_“Sorry.”_

_“No you’re not.”_

_“You have to deal with it sooner or later.”_

_“So it was fate that Yeollie brought her home?”_

_“No. Yes. I don’t know.”_

_“Aish! I can never flip these right.”_

_“He fell in love with her anyway.”_

_“We all did.”_

_“Let me do that, take this.”_

_“It doesn’t matter, does it?”_

_“Just makes it easier, I think.”_

_“I don’t like it.”_

_“It was never going to be comfortable.”_

 

 

 

Meanwhile, upstairs, Dawn really just wanted to take a shower, Buffy just really needed some aspirin, and Sunggyu was being really patient.

 

“Why did you call Angel?”

 

“Buffy…”

 

“Wait! What did you see while you were gone? Did you go somewhere? Do you know how to get Anya back?”

 

“Willow stop, one thing at a time.”

 

“Buffy, this is important.”

 

“No! Angel. Los Angeles. Coming here. Priorities, Will.”

 

Dawn cleared her throat just as Sunggyu piped in, “Also that Faith person. Right?”

 

“And the Winchesters? Dawnie…”

 

Willow let out a short laugh, “That’s not going to be a disaster. Angel, Spike, and the Winchesters?”

 

“Guys…?”

 

“What is that supposed to mean, Will?”

 

“Nothing, it’s just that your boyfriends like to torment…”

 

“What?!”

 

“Guys!”

 

“Shouldn’t we know what we’re getting ourselves into before we ring in the cavalry?”

 

“It’s not like Faith goes anywhere without them anymore anyway.”

 

“GUYS!”

 

Everyone turned to look at Dawn, who had finally stood up and was holding a towel in one hand, the other resting on Sunggyu’s shoulder. “Angel can explain his part of this when he gets here. No, I didn’t see Anya. I can’t piece it together right now, I need to talk to Angel first. Faith needs to be a part of this because she’s _family_. And the Winchesters always find something to keep themselves busy when they come into town, it’s not like they’ll be staying here.” She took a deep breath. “Now. I need a shower. Badly. And Buffy? You look like hell. Take an aspirin and eat something. We can talk later. They’ll be here soon, I’m sure.”

 

“Um… Dawn-ssi?” Woohyun’s voice was meek and apologetic. “Angel? As in – Angelus? The vampire with a soul? He’s coming _here_?”

 

Buffy and Willow stared over at him incredulously.

 

“But that’s just a grandmothers’ story,” Sunggyu whispered.

 

Dawn brushed aside Sunggyu’s dark hair with one hand, “There’s more to your grandmother’s tales than whispers in the dark.” Sunggyu took her hand, his gaze locked on Woohyun’s. “Sleep for a little while, okay? I know you didn’t last night and …”

 

“You’re going to need the rest,” Willow said softly.

 

They all seemed frozen, _like worlds colliding_ she thought. One minute everything was normal and the next, all there is to hold onto is dust and words.

 

 _How accurate_.

 

But she didn’t have time to be bitter. A shower, some of the food Fei and Jia were making downstairs, and then there’d be lots and lots of talking. She looked down at the dark-haired boy holding her hand. Yeah, that’s something that needed to be discussed eventually as well. But it would have to wait.

 

Dawn thought of her sister, of her penchant for vampires and warriors, how she always seemed to find men who could work alongside her. There wasn’t time for conversations or dates or picnics in the park when you lived this life. The past few months, going to school, playing with Sungyeol and Myungsoo, it had seemed slow but it wasn’t. The world was just biding its time.

 

 Sunggyu’s thumb rubbed against her knuckles. His hand in hers wasn’t something they grew into, dancing around each other and learning each other, learning to trust and to lean. It was all at once. In one moment she was standing alone, in the next her hand was in his. What could they say now?

 

Now that they were already intertwined?

 

“Guys? We’re forgetting the real problem about to be on our hands.”

 

Buffy raised her eyebrows.

 

“I sent Hoya to pick up the girls from the train station!”

 

Woohyun wasn’t exactly sure why all three women groaned when Dawn said that, but he could imagine. And he suddenly was a little more excited about these new arrivals.


	15. In which Dawn needs a time out, Sunggyu finally gets a nap, and people arrive

Dawn sat on the toilet, wrapped only in a towel, listening to the sounds of the house underneath the water crashing against the walls of the shower, rubbing her thumb over the phone in her hand. 

She felt words swirling around in her head like a meteor shower, crashing into each other and breaking apart, causing small bits to fly wildly and sting her already fraught nerves. The phone in her hand kept buzzing and buzzing. She started to shake. 

She had brought the phone with her because it occurred to her that she had never told Dongwoo how proud of him she was. She passed out right after his performance. What a fucking drama queen. 

But the buttons felt slippery beneath her fingers and every time the phone buzzed, it rocked her to the core, crashing right through her. 

Through the sound of the water crashing and the phone buzzing was the unending tangle of voices floating through the house on waves and waves. Dawn covered her ears with her hands and tried not to scream.

She remembered vaguely the tantrums of a newly-made fourteen year old girl, she longed to echo that girl now. She could see her standing beside her, confused and alone, screaming to the void that didn’t answer. She longed to reach out and grab that self. Together they would scream to the noise, “Get out. Get out. GET OUT.”

It was never a question or a demand. 

It was a desperate plea.

Maybe she moaned. Maybe she actually screamed. Maybe Fei was just more powerful than Dawn knew. 

Fei was crouched before her, murmuring softly – it sounded like a train crashing through bricks to her. It was all too much, it was never enough. She felt small fingers of relief around the corners of her senses, latched onto them, could nearly smell Fei’s magick in the air as the older woman tried to bring her relief. But every time she reached out for comfort, the sounds poured in louder.

Somewhere the words, “Get out,” spoken gently but firmly settled around her. Somewhere the sound of a door closing seeped through the din. Somehow the din started to dissipate.

Dawn opened her eyes. Fei was standing there handing her a glass of water, “I kicked everyone out of the house for a while. Willow put a silencing spell on the outside, so nothing can get in. Your sister isn’t very happy.”

Dawn shook her head. No, she imagined Buffy wouldn’t be very happy at all.

 

“I’m leaving, but Sunggyu is still asleep and Anya…” Dawn detected a trace of sadness in Fei’s voice when she said Anya’s name. “You know what is happening to her?”

“Not how to stop it.”

That was the important thing, Dawn thought. She knew everything but couldn’t fix it. So what was the point in saying anything until there was an answer? Especially about this. Anya wouldn’t come back until they had dealt with the fact that she was nearly impossible just lying in the next room.

Dawn’s head started to buzz again.

“Drink.”

The water had an herb that was bitter and sour floating in it. Dawn gulped it down. 

“In about an hour, you should feel a lot better. Drink the rest, shower, and then sleep. Spike and Woohyun will be right outside on the porch if you need anything. Buffy and I will be back as soon as we get enough food to feed the army you’ve called to us.”

Dawn smiled, already seeing Fei, Woohyun, and Spike happily arguing in the kitchen over piles of food. 

The house was going to be full. It usually was – the Scoobies took up a lot of space. But they’ve never been all together the way that they would need to be that night. And they’d never been as united. The Scoobies were half-formed family of misfits and children. They knew how to care for each other in pieces, in the stillness after a battle, in the frenzy before war. The comfort of a warm kitchen and babble of voices there just so rarely seemed room for. 

Somehow they also never seemed to take up enough space lately. There was always a gap – the space that Joyce should have held, the dessert Tara would have made – it wasn’t their fault that they lost the two people that knew how to gather others together for the sake of happiness and celebration rather than for military planning.

It wasn’t their fault that there was never a moment between battles to even pretend they knew what they were doing. 

 

“Hoya?” Dawn started as Fei started to the door. “He’s going to need a wingman.”

Fei twinkled, “As if Sungjong would allow him to make such an errand alone.” 

 

* * * * * *

“Where are we going, hyung?”

Sungjong rolled his eyes from his position in the front seat next to Hoya and bit back, “To pick up Dawn’s sister from the train station.”

Sungyeol bounced in the backseat, “Dawn’s sister? Dawn and Buffy have a sister? Why haven’t we met her?”

“She obviously doesn’t live in Sunnydale.”

“Well why didn’t Dawnie ever mention her? I mean, we’re friends! You’d think she would have told us.”

“You didn’t tell her about Woohyun and Dongwoo,” Hoya pointed out with a laugh.

“That’s different!”

“Hyung, can we leave him behind next time?”

“Sungjong I can hear you!”

“Seriously, even Myungsoo being creepy and taking pictures of me while we’re driving would have been better than this.”

“Sungjong I am going to kick your ass when we get out of this car.”

“Can we put him on Ritalin?”

“Ya! Lee Sungjong!”

Hoya bit the inside of his cheeks to keep from grinning. No matter how many times Sungyeol threatened, he knew that the older boy would do nothing to their maknae. No one ever dared get into a fight with Sungjong – all the older boys pretending they didn’t want to hurt him – but Hoya knew that they were all terrified of the younger boy. There was a spark in Sungjong’s eyes that suggested a steely inner strength none were willing to challenge. 

“We’re here.” Hoya turned to the two younger boys as he put the parking brake on, “And next time I’m bringing Suji and Min instead of you two. They don’t threaten each other with violence.”

Sungjong scoffed, “There’s no way Jia would let you bring Suji and Min with you this afternoon. I heard her telling you so.”

Sungyeol waved the glittery sign with attached balloons the girls had made in their faces, “Guys! We’re late!!!”

 

* * * * * * * 

Dawn stepped out of the shower and pulled a baggy tshirt and boxers on over her still-damp body. The herbs and the hot water made her feel slightly better, but still a little woozy and exhausted.

She opened the door to the bathroom and closed her eyes against the assault of images that greet her. She had learned to balance on the edge of her mind in the bathroom – it was small and enclosed, she could shut her eyes to the details. Out in the hallway everything was a muddle, the past, the present, the future – split into a million pieces and she was seeing it all at once.

Bones. Dust. Smoke. Nothing.

She felt her way along the hallway using the wall as a guide, stumbling like she had suddenly been stricken blind. Her room was no better, she knew. There were too many layers there.

She stood in the doorway looking over at Sunggyu asleep on her bed, lying on his back, one arm across his chest, the other flung wide. Watched him flicker in and out of view.

Dawn closed her eyes and thought back to a conversation she had once had with Buffy. She made sure to slip it in on a day when it wouldn’t hurt. When there were no fresh wounds and no tired eyes. A day when they wouldn’t get lost in the darkness of it.

“It was like I could see the layers – could see what shouldn’t be there. You flickered in and out. Like a light was going in and out, but it was you. Everywhere. Pictures of you, your bed, your face. Like you weren’t solid anymore. Like I could blow you away. Like anything could have just snatched you right back out again.”

“You shoved me.”

“You were always solid when I needed you to be. It was like the spell was letting me see something I didn’t want to know, but when I grabbed you – you were real again.”

Dawn swayed a little on her feet. Fei’s herbs would have her crashing to the floor if she didn’t maneuver to the bed quickly. She tread carefully, picking her way across debris that faded in and out of view. At one point she was trapped between boxes and pictures. She cried out and felt her knees start to buckle beneath her. The world was treacherous, with it all bleeding like this together in her mind. (She thought briefly of Anya lying in the other room and wondered if she went to look – would she see Anya flickering into emptiness? Or would she see the broken corpse, too?) She didn’t dare look down at her own skin, afraid she would start to fade if she looked. 

Collapsing on the bed finally, Dawn fell asleep with her head on Sunggyu’s arm, her back against his side, clutching her knees to her chest.

Just before she lost consciousness, she thought she heard the soft sound of feathered wings in the distance.

 

* * * * * * *

 

“Fei I really think you are getting too much food!” Buffy stared down at the two shopping carts full of supplies that the other girl was still piling food into. Jia had disappeared with Willow about a half hour ago, leaving Buffy to deal with Fei’s obsessive compulsive shopping alone.

Fei quirked an eyebrow at her, “Have you ever had to feed 20 people and 2 vampires and a demon for three days?”

“Three days? One day. One meal.”

Fei smiled and then pulled out her phone, winking at Buffy as she answered. “Yes. Nam Woohyun I know how to …” 

Buffy started to space out when Fei started to talk quickly and angrily in Korean to Woohyun. That was the fourth phone call in the last hour. Buffy had been forced to field one herself, calling out ingredients to a complicated dessert recipe she was sure wasn’t necessary that Woohyun piped into her ear. In the background she had heard Spike calling out advice as well and at one point was stuck between Fei and Spike both giving Woohyun a lecture on the finer points of powdered sugar… or something. She wasn’t entirely sure. And was wishing she had stayed home to take a nap with Dawn and Sunggyu. 

“Here. This’ll fix what ails ya!”

Buffy jumped as Willow handed her a large cup of coffee. She gulped it down, scalding the back of her throat and tongue. Jia handed Fei something similar and took the phone from her, scolding Woohyun and Spike with an authority Buffy recognized in herself. 

Buffy looked over at her best friend as she sipped her coffee. Willow seemed to be buzzing with energy. You’d think that after watching Dawn and Anya through a coma – one of them still not awake and the other being cryptic and weird – that Willow would seem a little more subdued. Be rushing into research-mode or worrying with her nose all wrinkled, on the phone with Giles and Wesley at a table cluttered with books. Instead, she was laughing and joking with Fei and Jia, drinking her tea calmly.

“You look so happy, Will.” Maybe the happiest Buffy had seen her since Tara. A huge weight seemed to have lifted from her shoulders.

Maybe it wasn’t the time or the place for an observation like that, but the other girls had moved further down the aisle and were consulting different bags of what looked like nuts maybe. But probably wasn’t.

Willow laughed, “I am kinda.” She put her arm around Buffy, “It’s nice to have another witch around.”

Buffy nodded slowly and looked over at Fei, her curly hair as wild and unrestrained as the woman seemed reserved and put together. Unlike Jia, whose bright orange hair seemed to be a badge of her personality, Fei’s hair seemed completely at odds with her personality.

“It’s like…” Willow pursed her lips, “It’s like when Faith is around. You don’t always see eye to eye, but isn’t it nice to have another Slayer nearby in a way? Like you’re always alone with something that you can’t explain and then boom – Faith is there and she understands enough to be … more comfortable than maybe we are sometimes.” 

There was something under Willow’s voice that pricked at Buffy’s consciousness. A sense of longing or just shy of bitterness. The Slayer was always alone. It didn’t mean Buffy loved Willow or any of them less. It just meant what it meant.

“Not …” Buffy grabbed Willow’s hand. “Do you think Dawn ever feels that way? Like she’s… all alone? I mean, it’s not like I can set up a playdate with another Key for her.”

Willow laughed quietly, “Buffy we live on a hellmouth. You’re a Slayer. I’m a witch. Dawn’s a Key. Spike’s a vampire with a soul. Anya’s an ex-demon. If there was anywhere that Dawn could feel like she’s understood, wouldn’t it be with the rest of us freaks?”

“Then why all these new friends and Sungyeol and Sunggyu and all of it?”

“Buffy. Stop.” Willow shook her a little too harshly, sloshing coffee out of Buffy’s cup and onto her hand, stinging her skin. Buffy realized briefly that it didn’t hurt, she felt numb and out of focus. She struggled to hold onto Willow’s words. “Dawnie’s a teenager. She can’t always hang out with her big sister.”

“But this guy…”

“Just because she’s the Slayer’s little sister and a mystical Key, doesn’t mean she doesn’t have hormones. Or deserve to date and destroy hearts like every other seventeen year old.”

Buffy drew in a deep breath. “I guess you’re right. I mean… I guess I just figured I wouldn’t have to worry about it for another year or so.”

“You fell in love with Angel when you were sixteen.”

“That’s fair.”

They sipped their drinks and watched Fei and Jia argue over a bag of something, Woohyun’s ignored, tinny voice emanating through the phone.

Willow started laughing, “Oh man. I was so expecting to have to talk Spike out of a murderous rage the first time Dawn brought a guy home.”

Buffy sighed, “Oh god. Poor Sunggyu.”

 

* * * * * * *

 

“Man I don’t like this place.”

“You say that every time we come here.”

“Too many demons.”

“And most of them don’t care about you.”

“It’s weird, man.”

“It’s not that weird.”

“That little chick is going to kick my ass again.”

“Maybe you should stop wearing those yellow contacts in public.”

“I was undercover!”

“You’re an idiot.”

“It was a good idea.”

“Well it served you right.”

“I wasn’t expecting a Slayer, okay? Dad’s books don’t even mention her.”

“None of the hunters knew about her.”

“Don’t you find that weird?”

“Nope.”

“Don’tcha think if this chick was actually all-powerful that we would have heard about her?”

“We’ve been a little preoccupied.”

“We’re Hunters. She’s a mystical Hunter-thing. You’d think we would have crossed paths.”

“Slayers are a vampire thing.”

“Whatever man, it’s weird.”

“You’re just pissed that you got your ass handed to you by a girl who weighs less than half of you.”

“She does not weigh less than half of me.”

“You need to lay off the burgers, man.”

“Do you want to get pushed out of a moving vehicle?”

“That’s the turn!”

“What’s weird is that if she’s supposed to be this mighty Vampire Slayer – why is she always boinking them?”

“Damnit we missed the turn. Flip a bitch here.”

“Are you listening?”

“No, Dean. I’m not. I’m tired of this conversation. We have it every time we come here.”

“It’s all your girl’s fault.”

“You’re jealous.”

“Bullshit.”

“Turn left here.”

“I really want to know where she’s been all this time. Why didn’t the Slayers help dad? Or help us beat yellow eyes?”

“They had other shit going down.”

“Yeah, cause it’s hard to lend a hand in an apocalypse.”

“It is if you’re stopping one of your own.”

“Why are you defending her? Aren’t you the least bit curious?”

“I’m not discussing this with you, because every time we come you have the same argument with yourself. And then within an hour you and Spike are drinking in the basement playing pool and I can’t get you to leave.”

“I hope he didn’t buy cheap liquor again this time.”

“We’re here.”

“Why did they take the train? We could have driven them.”

“They like the train.”

“They like trolling old people and making out on trains you mean.”

“Same thing.”

“They should be here… are you seeing what I’m seeing?”

“What?”

“There’s a pack of Asians with a huge sign with their names on it over there?”

“Where?”

“Right there!”

“Damn you’re right. ‘Welcome home Faith and Ruby!’ That’s cute.”

“Why did they send a bunch of teenage kids to pick them up?”

“That one looks a bit older.”

“I could take him.”

“What is your problem?”

“Balloons, too?! Seriously what the fuck is going on here?”

“Just stay in the car, alright?”

“You are not leaving me in the car. I want to see this!”


	16. In which Sunggyu is rudely awakened and Hoya longs for an easier time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This got quite a bit darker than I expected it to.   
> Sorry not sorry.

 

It was annoying, almost, how much you could forget time.

 

It seemed to Sunggyu that he had always known Dawn Summers. The way she danced when she ate pizza; the way her eyes wrinkled in the corners when she was trying not to laugh; the way she lifted her chin to smell the air when Woohyun and Fei were cooking; the way her voice softened when she spoke of her family; the way she tried to hide her obvious love of books and old, dark things… the way she moved and smelled and spoke and smiled and _was_ came second-nature to him. As if they were things he had always known.

 

Felt like coming home.

 

“Isn’t that terribly cliché?” a voice broke through Sunggyu’s reverie and he stretched his neck up, careful not to disturb Dawn still asleep on his shoulder. A tall man in a pale trench coat stood in the doorway, looking quizzical and maybe a bit superior. As if he had stumbled upon strange creatures he had only ever read about in books. “Or I think that’s what I’m supposed to say. I’m not entirely sure what that means, anyway.”

 

The trench coat paced about the room for a moment as Sunggyu’s sleep-deprived brain scrambled for what to do.

 

“How long have been lost?”

 

Sunggyu started at the strange, detached concern in the man’s voice. “L-lost?” he croaked.

 

“Surely if you are only now home, then you have been missing for quite some time.”

 

The silence spell Willow had worked on the house was playing tricks on Sunggyu’s consciousness. There should be birds chirping and clocks ticking and the AC whirring, instead there was on the sound of his breath now slightly out of sync with Dawn’s and the looming silent space between him and the man towering above him.

 

“H-home?”

 

“Why do you keep repeating everything I say?” the man loomed closer.

 

“Because you are annoying and if you don’t leave I’m going to throw a pillow at you and tell Spike he can kill you,” Dawn growled into Sunggy’s chest, nuzzling closer as she threatened him.

 

“Ah! _Natura rerum claustra_. You are awake. Now tell me. Why am I here? And who is this boy? I feel as though Dean would want me to say something threatening towards him lying with you like this.”

 

Dawn chuckled and sighed. “I’m sure he would. Listen, Cas – just get the hell out will ya? I’m exhausted.”

 

“But you told me to come.”

 

“And now you are here. Go away.”

 

“But…?”

 

Dawn drew the blanket over her head, “Just go outside for a minute. I’m sure Dean will be here soon and you can bother Spike in the meantime.”

 

“I really think we should discuss—”

 

Dawn sat up quickly, “We will discuss when _I say so_ , you aren’t the Master here.” The door to her room threw itself open with a loud bang. “Now let me sleep.”

 

He hesitated and looked pointedly at Sunggyu tangled up in the sheets beside her.

 

Dawn rolled her eyes, “You can join Dean in a lecture later. Just get out, okay?” As the man walked calmly out the door Dawn called after him, “Hey Cas? It’s good to see you.”

 

He turned and inclined his head, “And you, _claustrum_.”

 

Dawn sat looking after him for a moment, deep in thought, chewing on her lip. When she turned to lie back down she started, “You’re still here.”

 

Sunggyu’s heart clenched and the surprise and confusion on her face, quickly moving to disentangle his legs, “I’m … I’m sorry.”

 

Dawn’s hand on his chest stilled his movements. “You held my hand.”

 

Sunggyu looked steadily up at her. “Yes.”

 

“The whole time?”

 

“The whole time.”

 

She reached down and took his hand in her own, twining her fingers through his.

 

“ _The whole time_ ,” she whispered, tracing their knuckles with her finger.

 

 

 

*             *             *             *             *             *             *             *

 

 

Faith and Ruby decided within seconds that Sungjong was not only their favorite creature to ever walk the earth, but that possibly Sungyeol was a close second – especially when he bristled if they ignored him. And also that as it seemed as though the quiet, older one seemed to share their opinion of Sungjong’s perfection, it was reasonable to let him stick around for a while.

 

_Later Dawn would giggle that she really hadn’t have needed worry about Hoya after all, but Sunggyu would refuse to listen, too busy complaining that Ruby had stolen his favorite Nell shirt – right off his back – and when were they leaving again?_

 

The three of them were hell-bent on teasing Sungyeol into a fit (and also the girls had decided to stop and get the younger boys ice cream cones because they never got to be big sisters to Dawn anymore and desperately longed for creatures to pet and spoil) when Dean came rushing up on them, Sam on his heels.

 

Hoya’s eyes flashed when he saw Dean running up on them and stepped instinctively in front of the girls – admittedly he was on strict orders from Dawn to look after her sister, so he really didn’t know any better. _Later Jia would join Faith and Buffy in none-to-gently stepping in front of a demon and a Slayer to protect them and maybe Jia would laugh through her teeth at him as he kissed her for nearly two months, but it was so damn endearing and_ human _that Faith and Ruby never thought to hold it against him._ It was only a split second, anyway – Ruby shouldered past him and leapt into Sam’s arms, Faith dragging Sungjong and Sungyeol after her (Hoya was pretty sure he heard her say something like _Honey look what we found, can we keep them?_ but he wouldn’t stake his life on it) leaving a still slightly, though comically, enraged Dean.

 

The two stared at each other for a moment, Dean looking Hoya up and down critically, as if weighing him against an unknowable scale. Hoya never shifted or broke his gaze. It wasn’t like his world could get any weirder.

 

“Who the hell are you?” the man’s voice was gruff and low – a practiced art to threaten and disarm.

 

Hoya smiled his wolfish smile, “I’m Dawn’s—”

 

“You’re dating Dawn?!”

 

The older man’s voice cracked, Hoya was sure of it. For the first time, he stepped back and hesitated, longing for the days when Dawn was merely a long-legged extension of Sungyeol. The girl Sunggyu was in love with. The girl without an oppa.

 

Within less than 24 hours Dawn had gone from a lovable, adoptable young girl with a terrible oppa, to a fiercely guarded woman with – it now seemed like – not only a vampire in her corner, but now this very angry man who looked as though he had been living out of his car for the last month.

 

Hoya scratched his head, muttering, “Sunggyu sure knows how to pick ‘em.”

 

The man ducked his head oddly, jutting out his chin to the side, “What was that.”

 

Hoya cleared his throat, “I said Sunggyu-ssi really knows how to pick ‘em.”

 

The man straightened and stared.

 

“Sam!”

 

“Sam?”

 

“Yeah hang on!”

 

From behind him, Faith and Ruby swept up and hugged the man from either side, Faith planting a kiss on his cheek with a loud smack. Their voices jumbled together, speaking quickly and over each other.

 

“We didn’t miss you.”

 

“She totally missed you.”

 

“When’s the last time you showered?”

 

“I never miss you.”

 

“How was Cleveland?”

 

“I did not miss him! She did, though.”

 

“We love it when you get all red in the face.”

 

“Were there hot girls in Cleveland?”

 

“Did you go to the Mongoose?”

 

“Where that waitress?”

 

“You totally should have tapped that last year.”

 

“We beat him to it.”

 

“We totally beat you to it.”

 

“Don’t worry, I’m sure she like guys, too.”

 

“Well…”

 

“Seriously you stink.”

 

“Do you ever shower?”

 

“You smell like stale cheeseburgers.”

 

“You haven’t been keeping to the diet have you?”

 

“And after all that time we spent making a spreadsheet!”

 

“Girls, I think he’s had enough,” the taller man broke in, pulling Ruby (or was that Faith?) gently away. “And anyway, did you really think Dean was going to follow your spreadsheet?”

 

They shrugged in an identical way that made Hoya shake his head and rub his eyes.

 

It wouldn’t surprise him at that point if he was seeing double. Or had somehow woken up in an alternate universe where Sunggyu’s girlfriend had a team of oppas just waiting to threaten Hoya for kicks and giggles.

 

The girls had kept him up late that night, forcing him to pain their toenails and then they needed time to dry and then and then and then... He really shouldn’t be put in charge of Min and Suji. Those crocodile tears got him into trouble every time.

 

“Anyway, he’s not dating Dawn.”

 

“Oh good.”

 

“His roommate is.”

 

“What?!”

 

“Dean, calm down.”

 

“Don’t tell me to calm down, Sam.”

 

“You’ll probably like him.”

 

“He always likes them.”

 

“She’s too young!”

 

“Why are you here?” Hoya suddenly blurted out.

 

The others turned to stare at him.

 

“Sorry it’s just… Dawn’s… and the coma… anyway I thought Sunggyu only called a sister. Faith, right? So… what are you guys doing here?”

 

“Why _are_ you here, Sam?”

 

“Cas…”

 

“Cas sent you?! … Dean… what did he say? Why is he here?”

 

“I don’t like this.”

 

Sungjong leaned his cheek onto Faith’s head, “What’s a Cas?”

 

Ruby and Faith exchanged looks.

 

“A Cas means this is bigger than we thought,” Faith said grimly.

 

“He could just be bored,” Dean interjected.

 

“Coming to the Hellmouth isn’t really Castiel’s version of a vacation,” Sam intoned thoughtfully. “Although…?”

 

Dean rubbed his hands together, “So where are we headed?”

 

Sungyeol and Sungjong smiled broadly, “Ice cream!”

 

 

 

*             *             *             *             *             *             *             *

 

 

Sunggyu shifted to let her sink back into him, her head fitting just inside the nook of his shoulder, their legs tangling over and under each other, their fingers still in one heap between their chests, his chin rubbing rubbing her forehead gently.

 

“Can you… Do you think you can be quiet with me, just a little bit longer?” she whispered into his neck.

 

He kissed the top of her head, “As long as you need.”

 

“Forever? Can we just lie here and be quiet forever?” She angled her head back to look at him, her eyes bright with unshed tears.

 

There was an ache in his chest that he hadn’t noticed before. It felt just as much a part of her as the fingers clutching his own, something deep in him that had always been there but he had been fighting, refusing to acknowledge. A sudden yearning to promise her they could stay alone in the quiet as long as she wanted – forever, just like she asked; desperately scrambling to just say yes – when they both knew they couldn’t.

 

He reached his hand around her narrow shoulders and brushed her hair away to stroke her cheek with one long finger.

 

 

Now is the moment when you kiss the girl.

 

When your heart is full of promises you cannot keep.

 

When the world is threatening to fall away and you just might let it.

 

When it can mean something.

 

But he hesitated and she sighed, letting loose a single tear that trickled down her cheek like a white flag of surrender.

 

And that moment meant the world.

 

It meant the difference between kissing the girl and collapsing under the weight she carried.

 

 

 

When she reached up and kissed him, her lips soft and her cheek wet, her hand tangling in his hair, he thought for the briefest moment just how wrong it all was and longed to turn back the clock just for a moment.

 

Your first kiss shouldn’t be sad and full of longing.

 

It should be full of laughter, it should be awkward, it should be shy and curious, it should be too wet or too dry, it should be spontaneous and silly.

 

It should be followed by a giggle.

 

It should let you blush and confess.

 

It should let the yearning rise natural and fiery.

 

The second kiss – he thought as her hands broke free and began examining his chest, his neck, pulling him closer – the second kiss should be full of passion and fire.

 

It should be as hard as the first is soft.

 

It should be breathless and grasping.

 

It should be full and long and full of promise.

 

It should awaken all the fire that the first can’t.

 

Kisses full of sadness and longing should be saved for rainy afternoons, for far down the road, for after a twist and a burst of pain.

 

They were skipping around like flat rocks on a still, moonlit lake.

 

They were starting all in the wrong place, wrapped lazily in sheets and tears without a porchlight or an awkward first date.

 

He wanted to greet her at the door and be surprised by her and see her light up.

 

He wanted to reach shyly for her hand in the dark.

 

He wanted to take the care and time to show her that he wanted to know every bit of her.

 

These tear-stained kisses in the dark, it wasn’t supposed to happen this way.

 

That’s not what the fairy tales say.

 

First there’s a ball and a confession and a chase or something.

 

Sometimes there’s a dragon.

 

And then there’s mourning and reconciliation.

 

They were starting in the wrong place, they were already all wrapped up in each other.

 

In the dark and the silence, he wasn’t sure where her heartbeat began and his ended.

 

It was happening all at once.

 

He wondered briefly if this was how the prince felt when he woke his sleeping beauty.

 

He wanted to break away, he wanted to say all of this to her, wipe her eyes and whisper to her about all the kisses he needed to share with her.

 

But he promised her quiet.

 

So he’d be quiet.

 

He was never very good at words, anyway.

 

He told her with his hands and lips.

 

He wiped away her tears even as they silently fell, he grew harder under her passive yearning. He shifted her, placing his hands on her waist and thighs, shifting her to straddle him in a fluid motion as he sat up, never breaking her kiss.

 

She gasped in surprise, pulling back, her eyebrows raised in question.

 

He smiled and put a finger to her lips, shaking her head.

 

_She asked for quiet._

 

When he leaned forward and playfully bit her earlobe, she gave a short little squeak and responded in kind, grabbing his face between her hands to bite him softly on his bottom lip.

 

His hands lingered on her thighs, her knees, bringing her closer to him.

 

And she smiled into his lips.

 

And they wrestled in the quiet, their laughter coming out in soft breaths on each other’s necks, her fingers pulling a little too hard on her hair, his teeth leaving soft marks on her collarbones.

 

She asked for quiet.

 

And he’ll stay with her there.

 

Even if the ache in his chest won’t leave, no matter how brightly he smiles.

 

The quiet can’t last forever.

 

There’s a world at their doorstep.

 

And as quiet as they are, it wasn’t going to leave them to each other for very much longer.

 

 

It was as if they felt that utter void beyond them in the same moment, they rose to it and to each other.

 

And there it was.

 

Their second kiss.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note on the Latin: it's probably all wrong. But basically I wanted Castiel to call Dawn the Key without it being too ~obvious to Sunggyu. So first he says: "Natura rerum claustra" which should inelegantly translate to: "Key of the Universe" And later "claustrum" just means Key.
> 
> It's a nod to Castiel possibly knowing more about Dawn than most - and also having a certain amount of respect for her.


	17. In which Dongwoo has an interesting night and there is more talk of ice cream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> warnings: potentially triggery details of child abuse

It felt to Dongwoo like he had been standing on the side of a busy street for several long minutes, waiting for the perfect moment to step off the edge and cross, only right when he turned back to walk a little further down, the traffic slowed just enough and he wasn’t ready, he missed the moment, and he’s now left staring at the flow pick up again; stuck longing for the clarity and freedom that slipped him by.

 

It didn’t help that he had been left alone with Suji, Min, and Myungsoo – who all seemed to be doing their very best to keep him busy and anxious, without relief. There was a knot appearing between his shoulders at the base of his neck, causing his head to throb oddly. He needed aspirin or a stiff drink… or sleep.

 

He bit back an uncharacteristic curse, wrapped it in a smile, and somehow answered Min’s insistent questions (that he couldn’t answer) while Myungsoo and Suji stared silently and wide-eyed at him from the couch.

 

They hadn’t let the other out of their sight since they saw Dawn collapse; heads bent close but unspeaking, in a silent vigil. Hoya couldn’t even separate the two of them at night, opting to just set them up in the living room with Min in Myungsoo’s bed until Fei and Jia returned home – which was starting to feel like a more distant timetable with every passing hour. He looked down at them and nearly shuddered – in contrast to Min’s hyper-inquisitiveness, their blank, open eyes quietly watching him were downright creepy.

 

Dongwoo rubbed his hand through his hair and grasped at something to do, something to occupy them all so that they wouldn’t have to notice the emptiness of the apartment, the deafening silence that was Dongwoo’s cell phone.

 

Hoya had left about an hour before – and he couldn’t really blame Sungyeol for going along.

 

Dongwoo had been distant and strange since they arrived home from the performance. Once Hoya had settled everyone in and given him a reassuring glance, Dongwoo had escaped to his room, surprised to find Sungyeol’s long limbs sprawled over the bed.

 

Which wasn’t really fair.

 

Dawn had become a second skin to Sungyeol, someone that helped him walk around in the world outside of the cocoon Woohyun and Myungsoo sometimes forced him into – with all the best and all the most selfish intentions. Dawn was a calm influence on all of them, she took their extremes and tamed them beneath her steady gaze. But her friendship with Sungyeol would always be the strongest… or so they had always thought until her collapse. Until it became clear that she was tied up in a supernatural world that threatened to either drown them or leave them all adrift without her. It was perfectly reasonable that Sungyeol would want company on the night that his best friend became something she wasn’t.

 

But to be perfectly frank, Sungyeol was not the cuddling type.

 

Physical affection for Sungyeol – real, deep affection, not just sex – was something he only afforded to those who loved him when he felt completely and utterly whole. He wasn’t willing to give out a half-thing. He spent most nights alone, away from the grasping, asking, searching bodies of Woohyun and Dongoo.

 

They loved him for it. They loved him for all of him – the broken pieces and the shards that would never heal and the pieces that shone.

 

Generally speaking, Woohyun and Dongwoo held onto each other the hardest when they were feeling vulnerable, when they needed the other person to piece them back together as if the other’s body was a glue they could apply to any wound.

 

Sungyeol needed to heal in his own space.

 

Which was most of the time.

 

(Sometimes Dongwoo felt like the huge fights Sungyeol and Woohyun had were sometimes part of the process and he tried not to be resentful or feel that they were partaking in something that he would… could never truly join. But if there was a truth about their relationship, it was that Sungyeol might admit to needing Woohyun in his darkest places in the darkest ways, but he kept Dongwoo at arm’s length – kept him in the light and wouldn’t let him see the scars that they knew ran deep in them all.)

 

Which is why Dongwoo wasn’t expecting him to be waiting on the bed, numbly staring at the ceiling, waiting for him.

 

Sungyeol never waited for him. He demanded attention when he needed it, crashed into spaces, took what he needed in ways that left Dongwoo breathless, more likely hard, unsatisfied, and confused than anything else.

 

Waiting wasn’t what they meant to each other.

 

They were crashing, colliding bodies catching glimpses of something more but always lost in the heat and the blood thumping all around them. They were the silence and the comfort in the spaces between healing and war. They were the playful, teasing; they were the good without all the bad and the ugly. They were passion without consequence. They were the heat without flame.

 

They weren’t the waiting up at night with worry lines and restless fingers part.

 

“I think Woohyun is staying with Sunggyu until there’s a change,” Dongwoo offered hesitantly, urging his sore mind not to throw in the _now get the fuck off my bed because I’m exhausted and my head is killing me_ part.

 

Sungyeol didn’t move, just continued to stare at the ceiling.

 

Dongwoo had stared at him for a moment, willing him to _move_ , to emote, to leave. The world was hazy on the edges and Woohyun had left them to stand vigil with Sunggyu and Spike without a word or a glance behind.

 

Dongwoo had always loved Woohyun’s devotion to Sunggyu – it was a bond that nothing could break and he had never felt jealous or threatened or betrayed by it. But that night he was resentful, Woohyun had left and now Sungyeol was acting very uncharacteristically and he just needed _sleep_.

 

Waiting was for Sunggyu and Woohyun, not for them. Waiting was for Fei and schedules were for Hoya and practicalities and spare blankets were for Sungjong and withdrawal was for Myungsoo and questions were for Min and silent support was for Suji.

 

Dongwoo wasn’t really sure what he and Sungyeol were good for. And he wasn’t interested in puzzling it out tonight.

 

With a sigh, Dongwoo shucked off his sweaty clothes – never having had the chance to change after his performance – and flopped down on the bed, closing his eyes to the raw need in Sungyeol’s body beside him.

 

He’d make it through the night, if he just stayed very still and very silent, adrenaline pumped in his ears and his muscles felt so tight he genuinely worried that if anyone touched him he might snap in two.

 

So of course the next thing he was conscious of was Sungyeol’s hesitant palm on his back, “Something happened tonight.”

 

Dongwoo couldn’t hold back the snort. Thankfully it was muffled by the bed pressed into his face.

 

Sungyeol chuckled wryly. “You were just thinking that you were glad I couldn’t hear that, weren’t you?” The hand on Dongwoo’s bare skin slid to his side and pushed him over onto his side. Sungyeol shifted down on the bed so that his eyes were level with Dongwoo’s. “I see you, you know. Even if you think that I don’t.”

 

Dongwoo focused steadily on the thin collarbone poking out over Sungyeol’s threadbare, saying nothing.

 

Sungyeol’s fingers started lightly tracing circles and swirls on Dongwoo’s skin, the touch pulling on Dongwoo’s frayed nerves like a kite on a string. He felt a low ache in his chest and his hands began to shake. He closed his eyes and willed himself to keep a breathing deep and even.

 

“What happened tonight?” Sungyeol’s voice was as hard in his ear as his calloused palm passing over Dongwoo’s nipples were soft.

 

Dongwoo’s breath hitched and he thought wildly to himself that he should stand up and walk away. Now.

 

But it was too late – he was swept back in the tide and his clarity was gone.

 

 

*             *             *             *             *             *             *

 

 

“So you’re telling me that seven of you live in the same apartment?” Faith’s voice was incredulous.

 

“Technically it’s a duplex,” Sungjong said, his attention for the most part fixed on his phone, Ruby leaning into him as they scrolled through what Hoya assumed were pictures of models or starlets in designer clothes – although from their comments they could have just as likely been looking at gifs of kittens or a catalogue of very nasty archaic demons.

 

“Seven of you?!” Faith wasn’t letting it go, it had been nearly an hour since Sungyeol had explained their living arrangements to her, but she was stuck on it. Hoya couldn’t tell if it was nerves – something to distract her from the upcoming “Scooby meeting” as she kept referring to it – or if she really was as interested as she seemed.

 

Sungyeol nodded, his patience never wavering, “All seven of us.”

 

“How did you all end up… I mean. You don’t have parents, do you?” Sam’s question was put forth in that soft way that he had when he was talking to victims of something particularly nasty. Faith put her hand on his knee and squeezed. It wasn’t necessarily a halfway house for orphans of a demon war. There could be a perfectly reasonable explanation. (She made a mental note to check on that group of orphan-teen demon fighters she had stumbled on in Stockton after this whole mess was over.)

 

Sungyeol cleared his throat and looked to Hoya for assistance, who grimaced a bit. Usually they didn’t share all the sordid personal histories and depended on the fact that they were obviously foreign to explain their lack of families. “Most of us are … it’s all different. But we all met in Seoul first. Woohyun and Sunggyu had been on their own for a while. So was Dongwoo. Most of though… our grandparents all knew each other. Or teachers. They sent us here…” Hoya was being careful with his words, but he still faltered.

 

Sungjong looked Dean straight in the eye, “They sent us here because they said we’d be safest here.”

 

“Here – in Sunnydale?” Dean asked through a mouthful of chocolate peanut butter crunch ice cream and french-fries.  

 

“That was the most important part,” Sungyeol said softly.

 

“You have to understand,” Hoya interjected. “Here, what you all do… what you _are_ isn’t really known. Where we’re from it’s the same and it’s not.”

 

“There are more who still practice the old ways,” Ruby said thoughtfully. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been off this continent, but I spent a lot of time in Korea during the late 50’s and – there were more who still believed in the Ancients than anywhere else I’ve ever been.” She chewed on her lip, “More magic, too.”

 

“The Ancients?” Sam asked with a raised eyebrow, looking as though he was sorting through a mental card catalogue.

 

“Yeah,” Sungjong said with the impervious superiority that only a teenager can truly produce. “What came before the demons.”

 

“Nothing came before the demons,” Dean shot back.

 

“You sure about that?” Sungjong asked disdainfully.

 

Hoya had been on the receiving end of that facial expression a total of two times in his entire life and he didn’t envy Dean at that moment at all.

 

Especially since the poor chap didn’t seem to have a clue that there was chocolate dripping in a steady stream down his chin.

 

 

*             *             *             *             *             *             *

 

 

Dancing on that stage that night had felt like nothing he had ever experienced before. He could tell the minute they landed in Sunnydale that there was something… _different_ about this town, that he would be able to dance and dance here.

 

And it felt more right than it ever had.

 

Raw, red memories of dancing as a child sometimes crept into his mind like waking nightmares. A soft shuffle of his feet was enough to prompt red hot iron brands on his bare soles. His feet still bore some of the scars.

 

He pushed them aside as quickly as he could, focusing on the present – on his new life.

 

A life away from the beating and the screaming and the dark, dark trunk he had spent sometimes weeks at a time locked in. A pleading, harsh, tearful voice cautioning him not to dance, never to dance, and only when his sobs stopped was he let.

 

A life away from hiding and stealing and starving and sleeping in alleys, the scars on his legs and back and feet keeping anyone from helping him. Branded, a child thrown to the world with no reason given and hardly a will to live.

 

Sometimes it had felt as though he wasn’t allowed to die. That while his birth had been – as had been pounded into his mind so often – blasphemous, his death would be all that more of a stain on his own soul.

 

But in Sunnydale, he had found a place where he could dance and dance.

 

Sungjong’s grandmother had found him asleep on her doorstep. The first person in over a decade that took pity on him, fed him, allowed him inside her house. She nursed him back to something resembling health. He spent the next four years rehabilitating, learning for the first time how to be human rather than a cringing, frightened feral thing.

 

Once she asked him when he ran away.

 

On his seventh birthday. It  was the one day that stood in stark clearness against the wavering edges of his memory. He knew it was his seventh birthday because the woman with the long, dark hair and too-bright smile had tattooed the number on his naked thigh. It took several hours and he cried as he never cried before. But she had only hushed him, telling him that this would save him, that he would finally be free.

 

Beneath her manic optimism was a lingering threat. If it didn’t work, if this last thing didn’t cure him, then she would have to kill him. She cried as she said it. As if she hadn’t been working up to this place for a long while.

 

“She wasn’t your mother.” He was kneeling on the floor, repairing an old chair when she had suddenly appeared and said it. He looked up at her in shock. “She wasn’t.”

 

“Because mothers never hurt their children,” he had intoned with only the slightest edge of bitterness.

 

“Because the stamp of your mother on your aura doesn’t match that of the woman who marked your body.”

 

“And it took you three years to figure that out?”

 

The old woman shrugged. “And it took you three years to show me.”

 

When he was introduced to Sunggyu and Woohyun with a single knapsack of possessions slung on his shoulder, he was just the orphan boy an old auntie had taken in who needed to a place to stay. He wasn’t the feral cat she had found in the gutter. And she had cleaned him of all of his scars… except a few on his feet and the tattoo on his thigh that was now stretched nearly out of recognition.

 

There were some things that needed to be remembered.

 

It wasn’t until he had been living with the two other boys for a few months that he even really knew what dancing was. Woohyun dragged him out to a club one night and it was like the world now shone in different colors. The music, the rhythm, the way the whole crowd seemed to move as one, though he could still see individual bodies as clear as day.

 

He asked her later if it had been the dancing that he was being punished for, but the familiar old eyes only wrinkled further as she said, “Someday you’ll see.”

 

He began to study, noticing very little else in the world but his pursuit of dance. Woohyun complained under soft kisses that he was getting lost – but the fire in his dark eyes when he walked in on Dongwoo in the practice room one night only fueled Dongwoo’s need to keep dancing.

 

The decision to move to Sunnydale was sudden. One minute they were happily wooing Sungyeol on the weekends, studying and working and living their lives, the next they were on a plane.

 

It took sixth months to get to their destination. Fei and Woohyun guessed that the Elders planned it that way so that they would all learn to rely on each other as their environment changed rapidly again and again.

 

It worked, they arrived in Sunnydale a well-oiled machine of a family. The only thing that seemed to have been missing was Dawn – but she was found quickly enough all things considered – and then their lives went back to normal.

 

Well… as normal as they could be.

 

Because Dongwoo was starting to notice something about his dancing. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Something that was simultaneously disconcerting and invigorating at the same time.

 

When he danced in front of the crowd, it was as if he could tap into the whole world and the entire universe was fueling his movements. His senses opened in ways he knew were not entirely normal – not just the sounds and scents, but the emotions and dreams and hopes and pasts of the people around him were pulled into his dancing, tingling in his body each time he moved.

 

The longer he danced, the stronger and more alive he felt.

 

It had always been that way. Even when he didn’t know when dancing was. Even when dancing meant being beat and screamed at.

 

But this was different – this was stronger than anything he had ever felt.

 

He was elated.

 

He was worried.

 

He had been contemplating how to talk it over with Woohyun and Fei when he leaped off the stage but then…

 

Then he had seen it.

 

He had been standing in a pile of rotting corpses and all around him was dust.

 

He could hear Dawn screaming, but he couldn’t get to her and all around him was death and destruction and the idle effects of time.

 

Only it was all broken the minute Dawn collapsed and he was left standing in a too bright, too harsh, too overwhelming reality.

 

The after effects of dancing didn’t fade or wear away, he felt the world pulsing under his fingertips, felt the swirling emotions and fears of each person close to him.

 

He wanted to call the old grandmother. He wanted to block the world away. He wanted to stop the adrenaline pounding in his ears. He wanted answers.

 

But most importantly, he wanted rest.

 

Because as long as he was awake, his mind kept going back to the woman with the dark hair and long nails; he touched the tattoo on his leg and nearly sobbed with want.

 

Maybe she had really known what he was.

 

Maybe she was trying to protect him from himself.

 

 

 

 

“I see you, you know. Even if you think that I don’t.” Sungyeol whispered into his ear. “What happened tonight?”

 

Dongwoo had never before followed that kite string to its logical conclusion, had always swallowed down the longing in his chest, but tonight he no longer had the energy to ignore it.

 

 _See me now_ his unspoken words trapped in his screaming mind lashed against Sungyeol’s body.

 

In moments, he was straddling the taller man and had his hands pinned over his head. Sungyeol’s eyes widened and then darkened as they reached for each other.

 

And for the first time they exposed their wounds proudly.

 

Sungyeol hadn’t been the only one closing himself off.

 

They bit and tear at the edges of each other’s fragility and drove into the scars that lined their bodies and their minds. There was nothing left unturned or unseen in the frenzy of their bodies crashing and colliding in the abyss they had so long tried to keep hidden from each other.

 

 

 

Dongwoo had woken bruised and sore, but the pounding in his head had ceased. He seemed to have gotten control of all his normal faculties again. His vision wasn’t blurred and he no longer could smell Sungyeol’s frantic worry and fear like musk surrounding him like a cloak. In the dawn light, it was more like a window that Dongwoo could choose to close if he chose – still translucent and never fully going away, but there was a choice there in how much he could see and know.

 

People deserved their privacy.

 

They returned to normal as if the day was normal and now he was standing in the living room, alone with three teens who were as tired of being left out of the goings-on as he was emotionally raw.

 

Just when he felt as though he might just lose his resolve and surrender to the desire to lock himself in his room and sleep the rest of the day when his phone buzzed.

 

“Finally!” Min exclaimed, dancing around the living room.

 

Dongwoo looked down at the phone and then up at the three of them all staring at him, still and always waiting for him to tell them what to do.

 

“Ice cream?”


	18. In which Dawn wakes up and has to wake the world up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a/n: This is a pretty HUGE chapter and a lot / nothing is actually revealed? Basically there's no way to do the amount of exposition I need to do in one chapter and I'm trying to do it in as ~unique a way as possible. So that it's not Dawn sitting around talking at people/ me talking at you all. But I am happy with the turn this took. I am also utterly predictable. And everyone laughs at Angel :)
> 
>  
> 
> I just realized that Xander is LITERALLY NOT MENTIONED IN THIS CHAPTER. lol. just presume that he's on a doughnut run or something? I am not going back to edit him in because WHY.

Dawn woke up slightly sweaty and a little rumpled - and naked … only really that nearly kind of naked where Sunggyu’s almost-too-big tshirt was wrapped around her ribs over her old pair of sleeping shorts that aren’t really shorts at all. After taking a mental note of her state of undress (and Sunggyu still sleeping soundly even after she wiggled out from under his heavy limbs) she dashed into the shower - realizing that her time as sleeping beauty whiling away was over.  
There was an army at her door.  
  
(Literally - Fei’s spell had started to wear off and she could hear Spike and Castiel on the porch teasing each other in that odd way they had of implicitly understanding each other. She thought maybe it was because of Spike’s age - compared to other vampires he was sometimes considered quite young - but for an ageless angel constantly surrounded by humans, there must have been something comforting about conversation with someone who actually remembered something before the advent of television. Regardless, the angel never complained about Sam’s field trips to Sunnydale.)  
  
In the shower she laughed to herself as she did a mental check, glad that she hadn’t lost more than her bra that afternoon; she had read enough strongly detailed and oddly personal accounts in the Watcher’s Journals to know just how much a vampire could smell and sense ( _and was really not ready for that conversation with Spike, thanks_ ).  
  
When she threw a grumpy and still-blinking Sunggyu into the shower a few minutes later ( _My oppa’s a vampire. Do you want to explain to him why you smell like…?_ ) he had the decency to blush just before she slapped a wet kiss on his cheek and slam the door shut.  
  
And then spent the next hour standing over Anya’s bed, mentally calculating what all needed to happen that night - it was nearly dusk when she woke up and the house below was starting to get crowded, nearly pulsing with people and tempers and anxiety.  
  
“I can’t fix this,” she whispered to Anya.  
  
Her eyes were closed the whole time.  
  
  
* * * * * *  
  
  
At some point, ice cream turned into a regime change, so when Dawn finally walked down the stairs, only Dongwoo had made it back with the Winchesters (had literally been thrown into the car by Dean himself, grinning wildly and finally feeling like there was someone around who understood) and was currently wedged on the couch between Dean and Castiel - looking even smaller than usual and slightly bewildered behind his bloodshot eyes.  
  
Dawn could hear Fei, Spike, and Woohyun laughing in the kitchen among the sounds and smells of cooking. Jia and Buffy were hovering over Willow in the dining room as she debriefed them on her current research into Anya’s coma.  
  
Sam, Faith, and Ruby were piled into a heap on a chair (Faith and Ruby actually sprawled on top of Sam as if he were a chair himself), Ruby completely engrossed in her phone (liveblogging every event to Sungjong actually, just as she promised - it was the only way he would agree to not coming along) while Faith interrogated Sunggyu and Sam half-listened to her reproachful teasing, smiling to himself at her efforts and Sunggyu’s not so graceful deflections.  
  
Dawn took a deep breath. There had never been a Scooby meeting like this before. For one, the house smelled too good. For another, it was so full and bursting - not with anxiety and fear, but with laughter and voices and warmth.  
  
 _Good. They’ll need it._  
  
Dawn glanced at the woman beside her and forced a smile. _They don’t know what’s coming._  
  
 _It’s already here._  
  
And the doorbell rang.  
  
 _Could you stop doing that? It’s creepy._  
  
  
  
* * * * * *  
  
  
  
Getting a mass of people to remember that there was an actual crisis on their hands - especially when that mass was largely made of lone wolves who were used to working alone or leading the charge themselves - would have been challenge enough.  
  
But Angel walking into the house - exactly as he always walks into a room, as though he’s the romantic lead in a dark Gothic film where the girl always dies at the end and everyone feels really bad for the guy because his life is so hard - a house full of equally ridiculous and melodramatic personalities….  
  
All Dawn wanted to do was slink back to bed.  
  
 _I don’t really have time for this._  
  
Dawn gritted her teeth.  _Bullshit. You have nothing but time.  
_

_Fine. I don’t have the patience for this. Do you really want to have an argument of semantics right now?  
_

_It would be easier if you lent a hand._  
  
There was almost what might be considered humor in the woman’s low voice,  _You really don’t want me to do that.No. No I really don’t._  
  
She hesitated, on the bottom stair right in the entryway as everyone from the three different rooms suddenly clamored into the small space, trying to be heard, trying to hear.  
  
She wasn’t supposed to lead and command, she was a watcher …. maybe someday even a Watcher. Someone who watches. Who hands over the pertinent information, but doesn’t command a room. Someone left alone with their books and journals and dust and artifacts. Sure, she can handle a weapon and she’s charged into battle more times than she should have - but it was never her plan. She wasn’t a general. That’s not what she was made for.  
  
She was made for towers and dripping blood and death and end and the end the end the end.  
  
 _Don’t spiral now,_ **Hyeonsil**.  
  
Don’t push me.  
  
You are the most powerful creation in this room.  
  
At my base form, without my flesh and mind. As you made so painfully clear. Dawn straightened her shoulders pointedly.  
  
I didn’t know… it’s not like we got a memo when you … were made.  
  
You wouldn’t have acted differently anyway.  
  
No. You would have survived worse.  
  
Thanks for the vote of confidence.  


 _Do it now._  
  
Dawn took a deep breath (felt a cool hand creep into hers and hold on tight), “SHUT UP!”  
  
Well of course that didn’t work.  
  
But Fei noticed. “Everyone sit. down.”  
  
Her wild, curly hair practically stood straight out. Tiny little Fei, her heels discarded at the door, put one hand on Angel’s chest and the other on Dean’s - they were thrown into the couch instantly.  
  
That they noticed.  
  
  
  
  
  
Once everyone was settled (Faith and Ruby never having moved in the first place, Woohyun leaning up against the doorframe with Dongwoo in his arms, Buffy lingering just to Dawn’s left) Dawn looked down at the men on the couch - the champions that had flown to her aide, or who had been here all along.  
  
Angel. Dean. Castiel. Spike.  
  
And shook her head.  
  
  
 _They want you to give them a sword.  
_

 _There are no swords to give._  
  
Not yet...  
  
That won’t comfort them.  


 _That’s not my job._  
  
  
Fei, Jia, and Willow stood slightly to the side - which wasn’t really like any of them - but these were strange circumstances. Anyway - it was easiest to gather all the bristling men into one concentrated spot for this.  
  
Everyone seemed to be expecting Dawn to give Angel a resounding lecture and then direct them all into action. They were poised, ready, waiting.  
  
  
 _You can’t think of that now.  
_

 _Can’t we just… give them something to do? Call a demon or something for them?_  
  
That’s not my job.  


 _What is your job?_  
  
  
Dawn turned to the women to her left, keeping Faith and Ruby in her eyesight as she spoke, reaching out to Buffy as best she could. “So this idiot cast a pretty powerful memory spell on like… all of LA and the world? I’m fuzzy on the details. But something…. something leapfrogged on his spell.”  
  
 _Something?You aren’t really a Someone._  
  
Angel started to protest, but was immediately silenced by the look of utter fury in Dawn’s eyes.  
  
 _You’re wasting time.  
_

 _You’re interrupting me.  
  
You’re afraid.  
  
Damn right I’m afraid, what do you expect?  
For you to rise._  
  
Dawn cleared her throat, “And by ‘fuzzy on the details’ I mean - I know exactly what he did and why he did it and believe me, him knowing I’m pissed is enough I think.” She raised her eyebrows at Angel who probably would have blushed if he had any blood in his veins. “But that isn’t the issue here.”  
  
 _Heh. He won’t like that.Good._  
  
“Cordy’s still in her coma, isn’t she?” He didn’t look up from his hands clasped in front of him. Dawn’s voice nearly broke as she turned on him, “We called you within minutes of Anya’s collapse. It’s been how many months?!” Dawn heard Willow make a strangled sound, but didn’t dare turn to look.  
  
 _You can’t have everything._  


 _Now isn’t the time._  
  
You are getting sentimental - your focus is slipping.  
  
She isn’t your problem.  
  
She’s …. she’s safe.  


 _You better be fucking sure._  
  
Dawn brushed away the tears threatening to fall, “But like I said - we aren’t hear to deal with your mess right now. You’re on your own, quite frankly. We need to deal with what’s happened here because of your actions. That amount of power doesn’t just go out into the universe without calling attention to itself…. Just be grateful when this is all over that something somewhat positive happened here.”  
  
 _Don’t make an enemy of a foretold one.Don’t tell me things that piss me off and expect me to stay silent._  
  
  
She paused, trying to ignore the sound of throaty chuckling in her head.  
  
“Because eveything is funky now. Funky beyond … I can’t explain it.” Dawn raised her head and looked at her sister, the older girl’s face etched with worry. “I have to… you have to see … I’m so sorry.”  
  
 _Are you sure about the ones._  
  
“I need Anya to wake up,” she whispered. “I can’t do this alone.”  
  
 _Are you sure they are strong enough._  
  
Dawn looked from her sister, to Willow and Faith resolutely. “I’m sure this is the right thing.”  
  
(Some part of her wondered if they heard her small, childlike voice the way she did. If she seemed strong and purposeful to them - or if her fear and regret were already seeping into her words the way they crippled her mind. She could barely shake the feeling that she was a small bird pecking at giants. What right did she have to make this decision for them? What was she anyway, but the younger sister to a Slayer - a Key without a lock - an orphan without a history except that written a book that was starting to come unbound.)  
  
 _And the other._  
  
“Anya is a survivor.”  
  
Neither one of them considered these questions or queries. It was like a script they had to say to each other in order to keep going. In order to ensure that Dawn wouldn't back down and disappear into the darkness and the forgetting  _and the death_.  
  
Either everyone else in the room had clued in on the fact that Dawn was having a conversation that they couldn’t see, or had decided that she had lost her mind and were trying to figure out what to do next. She sought out Sunggyu with her eyes - he was hovering behind Woohyun and Dongwoo near the door, “Everything is going to change.”  
  
He nodded.  
  
She wasn’t sure why she said it to him. It felt like a plea - an apology.  
  
After this, she was done with apologies.  
  
 _And mine._

 _And yours._  
  
“This is going to hurt a lot.”  
  
 _In my name._  
  
“In her name.”  
  
  
  
  
There wasn’t time for anyone to respond to her last words before all hell broke loose.  
  
  
  
* * * * *  
  
  
  
What the others remembered was Fei, Buffy, Jia, Willow, and Faith suddenly collapsing at once.  
  
Faith screamed out and grabbed Ruby with sharp nails, drawing blood.  
  
Fei nearly glowed with energy and hummed to herself, jerking oddly on the floor.  
  
Willow and Buffy grabbed for each other instantly, pressing their foreheads to each other. It almost looked as if Buffy were comforting Willow.  
  
Jia just sobbed on her knees silently. Tears falling down her cheeks like a flood.  
  
They all rushed into action - everyone grabbing out and trying to stop the screaming and the crying, to understand what was happening.  
  
Except.  
  
Castiel stood up slowly, turning around with wide eyes, before staring at a spot near Dawn and giving a slight bow before disappearing. (They found him later at the kitchen counter, eating anything he could get his hands on.)  
  
Except.  
  
Dawn standing amidst the wreckage with a sad sort of look of resignation and fierce determination on her face.  
  
Except.  
  
Dongwoo, who was torn from Woohyun’s grasp as he threw himself at Fei and crooned a lullabye in her ear - as if that could stop it.  
  
Who was suddenly surrounded by ash and smoke and ruins. He could smell rot and death and decay all around him. There was only silence. The screaming and crying and worried voices were far behind him. He looked up to where Dawn had been standing and still saw her, ankle deep in ash, glowing with an almost green effervescence lingering all about her.  
  
She didn’t notice him. She was looking at the woman next to her.  
  
A woman with long, dark hair shaved just above her ears. On her exposed midriff were faintly discernable tattoos of swords. She was fierce and wild. She was the death around him and the light around him and the words beneath the silence.  
  
A creature more than a woman, but in the most evocative way possible.  
  
As if woman had been stripped down to her raw, monstrous, powerful, dangerous core.  
  
And she was looking right at him.  
  
 _You?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *a note on the Korean word: "hyeonsil" - according to google, this is the word for "Reality" - just as a reminder, Castiel referred to Dawn as the "Key to the Universe" in Latin and now some strange lady who gives Dawn and Dongwoo visions is calling her "Reality" as if it were a pronoun. ((If this is a complete MESS of Korean - please someone correct me and I will fix it. I seriously need a linguist to help me with this verse!))  
> ** another minor note: Fei has previously used the phrase "In her name" in the Magic Box when talking to Anya. I'm being obtuse and ridiculous because I realize that chapter was published back in MARCH (omg I am the worst at updating, everyone shame me forever forever what is my life?!) so that teeny, weeny detail (that I knew at the time would be ~important) is totally understandably probably forgotten. Sorry about that.


	19. In which Meng Jia is Marked as a Slayer, Faith flirts with the wind, information is given, and a spell is prepared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is it. This is the penultimate chapter that explains everything and all the pieces fall into place. I was terrified of writing this part (idk why) and is full of delightful women being snarky and loving each other. Not entirely sure how I feel about some of the characterization - but hopefully the relationship is clear from the banter.
> 
> One more note: there will either be one more chapter or two (I haven't decided yet) to wrap-up this portion of the Noona-'verse. I'm thinking of officially titling this segment "Origins" (or something better probably). This is NOT the end of the Noona-'verse. I have individual stories/arcs in mind for all of the idols that will be a part of this Universe specifically. So stay tuned for more hijinx and makeouts! (And also a master post.)

Meng Jia first knew that she was going to be a Slayer when she was three years old.

That’s the way they tell it anyway.

She thinks sometimes that that’s much too young and the story her grandmother tells must be wrong. 

_The elderly like to romanticise the past_ , Fei likes to say with an affection smile.   
_She was full of shit_ , Jia always responds.

The way her grandmother tells the story, a precocious three-year-old Jia stabbed a pillow with a wooden spoon and firmly declared to a roomful of strangers just sitting down to dinner that _it’s my job someday_. Jia figures about ninety percent of that story is bullshit and that her grandmother had probably been filling her head with tales of vampires and Slayers for years before that and the stories just got stuck. 

She never really figured that her grandmother’s stories were true at all. Just an old woman’s fantasies to cling to in a dark world.

Until she was thirteen and was moved by the “mayor” of their small village into his own compound to be a companion to his … _daughter_.

In Jia’s world, a town run by an ancient vampire and his eternally-teenaged ‘daughter’ (that may or may not change every hundred or so years) were commonplace mishaps.

A mystical girl who could kill vampires and defeat evil was a faery tale the grandmothers told their daughters to keep the light in their eyes.

Not that living in a town run by a vampire was really so bad. He was “out” as it were - fed to eat and not to kill (barring the males, who rarely lived past 25) and ruled his village of women and children with a softer hand than some of his human counterparts in the rural districts. Jia always just shrugged her shoulders and figured it could get worse and until then - this was her life, right?

Only then it got worse. And better.   
Jia liked her bitter with her sweet. It came from a lifetime of stepping in tune with what the Universe threw at her.

Every decade or so the daughter of the village demanded a new female companion - a girl to grow up with, over and over. Jia never had any aspirations to become fodder for the girl’s ego - as many girls in the village did, spending their days polishing their manners and flirting with catastrophe - anyway, she was much too much of a tomboy to warrant any attention.

Except she did somehow and then she was living in the Great House with all the trappings and began having really uncomfortable dreams. 

Of girls dying.

Her grandmother cried and wrung her hands and prayed In Her Name; actions that Jia could never decipher as fully worried or happy but always seemed to be some disastrous combination of the two that generally resulted in her having to run an errand somewhere treacherous or take a bath. All the women in her grandmother’s generation came to the house and cried and wrung their hands (and there was a bath - she just knew it was only a matter of time) and there was some kind of ceremony with ropes and face paint that she didn’t fully understand (being thirteen is confusing enough without the supernatural leaving well enough alone) and left them all dissatisfied.

 _So am I a Slayer or not?_ , Jia muttered biting her lip and crossing her arms over her chest defiantly.

Her grandmother made the sign of Her Name with one hand pressed to her lips, _Maybe someday._

Several years later, kneeling beside her grandmother’s bedside she asked the one question through streaming tears she had never had the courage to ask until the end, _I thought it was just a faery tale._

_So did I._

 

When the elders decided to finally send Jia away (for her own safety as well as their own - the last Slayer to perk the master’s interest had left him beaten, angry, and the village had suffered for a generation) they sent Fei as her guide. A woman adept at the arts of nature and the spirit realm. Her healing incantations and soups kept most of the village walking in the winter. 

But a Slayer needed a guide, they said. And she was the best the village had to offer.

They didn’t argue or cry - because young girls do not argue with their elders. Young girls do not argue with elders who are sending them out of hell into freedom.

Their second night on the run, Jia dreamt of a red-haired spirit user and a hundred thousand girls waking from a deep sleep and a battle underground. She woke with a mark on her ribs and a migraine.

Fei took it all in stride, handed over chewing-gum infused with her best herbs, and made Jia meditate in Her Name before they moved on. 

They both figured it was pretty damn lucky they left when they did - a Potential Slayer living in the village was one thing, a full-fledged Slayer with all the powers and metabolism would definitely be noticed. Especially living right under his nose.

The purple bruise on her ribs was sore for days. When Jia finally complained one night - sleeping on the hard floor of a young couple’s tiny home - Fei whispered into the darkness with her eyes still closed, _It is Her Mark._

_What does it mean?_

Fei turned to her, a look of mild confusion on her face, _When a Slayer is called in Her Name, she bears the Mark so that all will know she is protected. It is an honor._

_Well you can have it, it hurts, _Jia grumbled irritably. Nearly six years living as the companion to the most wealthy ‘family’ in the village had softened the edges poverty had tried to drill into her as a child; being on the run and sleeping on floors was making her downright mean.__

__Fei smiled, _It’ll feel better in the morning.__ _

__The next morning Fei looked a little more ragged than usual, but her smile was just as bright and the stabbing pain in Jia’s ribs had dulled to a low ache._ _

__Back then they were still just Slayer-and-mystical-guide so Jia didn’t mention it. Later, when their barriers disappeared and they became sisters and partners and friends, she thanked her and it felt too late, but with Fei everything came at the time it should and she smiled like it had happened yesterday._ _

__Being a full-Slayer didn’t change much in Jia’s immediate world, except that Fei now expected her to train once they were settled and occasionally quizzed her on proper demon-killing techniques and she didn’t tire so easily. On the other hand, first they were on the run, and then they were organizing two young girls and seven ridiculous boys on an international journey, and then she sort of fell in love, and then they were settling into a whole new country… so it wasn’t like she was really afforded a lot of adjustment space._ _

__They weren’t really expecting the reigning Sunnydale Slayer’s baby sister to end up in their lives in the innocuous way she did._ _

__Was she totally and completely coming up with excuses to stay at home on weeknights cuddled up with Suji and Hoya watching bad reality tv dance competitions and heckling the fashion instead of doing her Slayer duty by patrolling at least their immediate neighborhood?_ _

__Probably._ _

__But then again, a few weeks after the purple bruise stopped aching, Jia and Fei talked over what her new dreams meant and they agreed the Slayer line had been shaken up in a brand new way and she was probably off the immediate hook, unless an Apocalypse cropped up in their backyard. Her dreams would keep them informed of any big nasties - as they always had - and they could continue with life just as it was before._ _

__On the (other) other hand - meeting Buffy should have changed everything. But as cute as she was, Jia wasn’t ready to spill all of her hard-won secrets to someone she didn’t know._ _

__

__So was she really surprised to find herself waking up in a wasteland reeking of ash and decay, wind whipping her hair around wildly, when she should be standing in the Summers’ living room listening to Dawn rattle out orders?_ _

__No. Not really, no._ _

__

__

___Why aren’t you surprised little one?_ _ _

__“Because I didn’t listen to you,” Jia keeps her head buried in her lap, digs her fingers into the ocean of grit and sand and ash surrounding her._ _

___You listened, you just didn’t act._ _ _

__“Are you laughing at me?”_ _

___No._ Jia feels a warm hand rest between her shoulderblades. _I still remember a time when I was content to listen in stillness.__ _

__Jia raises her head and sees Fei smiling down at her serenely, her hand outstretched._ _

__“It’s time I think, She’s calling.”_ _

__Jia scrambles ungracefully to her feet, always an oaf before Fei’s natural grace, “About time.”_ _

___I won’t wait long girls._ _ _

__As they walk forward arm in arm, Jia and Fei lean into each other and giggle quietly. Their voices are lost on the wind._ _

___Maybe we will be just as lost,_ Jia thinks. _ _

___I’ll still find you._ _ _

__

__* * * * * *_ _

__

__Faith feels as though she’s been wandering for hours. Occasionally she screams out Ruby’s name and somewhere in the back of her mouth she can taste blood, her body’s response to either being apart from Ruby or somehow eliciting Ruby’s response through taste instead of sound._ _

__“Seems accurate,” Faith grumbles to herself as she trods through the hazy grey… everything._ _

__Wherever she is she’s ready to kick the ass of the person who decided that a sheer negligee swirling around her ankles and bare feet were really the most appropriate hiking gear._ _

___You are the one being stubborn._ _ _

__The vaguely amused voice fills her head and Faith knows instantly that no matter where she looks, that voice wasn’t carried to her on the wind._ _

__“What do you want bitch?” she screams into the dark sky._ _

___They’re all waiting for you._ _ _

__“Yeah - I don’t do so great with demands. Maybe I’ll just wait right here and they can all find ME instead, how’s that for a twist?”_ _

__Faith swears she hears a chuckle and goosebumps appear on her arm._ _

___Hyeonsil was right about you._ _ _

__“Yeah I’m really glad. Give him my best. I’m sure he was a shit lay anyway.”_ _

__The wind around Faith warmed which was nearly as disconcerting as the strange laughing in her head, but slightly more welcome as she _was_ walking around practically naked._ _

__“Hey perv, what’s with the get-up anyway?”_ _

___Don’t you like it?_ _ _

__Faith blushed as the wind softened and slowed as it wrapped around her, a slight purr edging into the voice. “I’d like it fine if I was between silk sheets with a glass of champagne in my hand, but this shithole at least requires… panties.”_ _

__Faith’s voice faltered on the word panties. She’s not entirely she’s ever used that word seriously in her life since she was four years old. The sheer white negligee had long sleeves and clasped with pearl-seed buttons from under her breasts to just below her navel before opening out and dragging to the floor. There was literally nothing between her and the elements. “And _white_ , come on. Surely Hyemi told you I ain’t no virgin sacrifice.”_ _

___If that’s what I wanted you for, the world would surely be in trouble._ _ _

__“Delusions of grandeur much? You’re in charge of the world now? You seem like you’re mostly in charge of stripping me naked and making me wander around in miles of smelly dirt.”_ _

___Close your eyes Slayer._ _ _

__“Alright, but I want our safe word to be _platypus_ ,” she grinned. She was starting to like the talking wind._ _

__“I’ll keep that in mind,” Buffy’s voice erupted onto her worn senses._ _

__Faith opened her eyes with shock and gratefully took Buffy’s hug when it was offered. “How did you get here?”_ _

__“Well Willow and I just sort of woke up here and had to wait,” Buffy gestured to Willow who waved awkwardly. “Jia and Fei wandered in a few minutes later and then you just sort of popped in. It was weird, right?”_ _

__“Totally weird,” Willow responded dutifully._ _

__Faith quirked her eyebrows at the group, “What’s with the matching get-ups? I thought I was the only one.” They were all in the same robes Faith had been wearing earlier - only with a matching bikini-esque getup underneath._ _

__“You still are the only one,” the one Faith was pretty sure was called Fei said with a smile. She looked down and instead of white, saw a sheer red robe. “Sweet,” she whispered to herself._ _

__Buffy grinned at her wildly._ _

__

__“Hey! They’re all here! Can you knock it off with the theatrics now?”_ _

__They all turned to the newcomer, a young girl with soft brown hair swirling around her back, bright wide eyes, and long thin limbs. She was lounging on a rock that definitely wasn’t there seconds before, a nail file in her hand and an ipod hooked to her belt, the telltale white cords of headphones disappearing under her hair. She was wearing skinny jeans, stiletto heels, and a breezy black top. Buffy briefly reflected that the outfit reminded her of Fei and almost turned to say something, but then thought that maybe this wasn’t the time._ _

___Don’t shout at me._ _ _

__“Don’t be a pompous old fart.”_ _

___I am not old._ _ _

__“Whatever.”_ _

__The girls stayed mostly silent while the teenager on the rock had an argument with their invisible host, not really knowing what to do next._ _

__“Guys?” Dawn tapped Buffy’s shoulder. “Are you okay? I’m so sor--”_ _

__“Dawnie!!!” Buffy screeched and tackled her sister (still dressed like a normal human in jeans and a tshirt Faith noted ruefully). “What are you doing here?! What are we doing here?! What’s going on?!”_ _

__Dawn nodded towards the rock, “We’re here because… because she wanted to talk to us.”_ _

__Now leaned up against the rock that still housed the annoyed teenager was a woman clad very similar to themselves - except all in black. Her hair was shaved just above her ears about three inches, the rest lay in long, soft curls falling nearly to her waist. Beneath the black robe Faith could just make out the tattoos of short blades on her hipbones. She had a regal, if slightly frantic, look about her._ _

__Fei stepped forward, pressing her left hand to her lips in a strange gesture, “In Your Name.”_ _

__“Yes,” the woman laughed, the voice finally floating in the air the way it should. “In My Name.”_ _

__“I never thought I’d say that…” Fei faltered and stepped back, Jia reaching out to hold her around the waist, resting her chin on Fei’s shoulder to stare at the woman lounging on the rock with obvious interest and a little bit of fear._ _

__“You scared the hell out of them,” Dawn said snappishly. “Was all of this really necessary?”_ _

__“No,” said the girl on the rock. She looked up from her ipod (or phone? did one get reception in an alternate dimension or dreamspace or whatever?), “She’s just bored or something.”_ _

__“This is important, Minha,” the woman looked down at her charge with something bordering on annoyance and affection._ _

__“Everything always is.”_ _

__“Ex-Excuse me?” Willow tentatively raised her hand like she was in a crowded and unruly class. Faith would have made a joke if she didn’t understand the instinct to make the situation understandable. “Why are we here?”_ _

__“You are here because she asked for you to be,” the woman nodded towards Dawn._ _

__“Now that’s not fair,” Dawn interrupted. “We’re here because… well like something totally weird is happening and it just so happens that we’re like…”_ _

__“Super powerful or whatever blah blah mystical portents, multiple realities blah blah - can’t we just give them the CliffNotes?”_ _

__Faith smiled over at the girl with the i-phone-thingy. Whatever was going on, she wanted to be on that girl’s team. (Everyone else turned various shades of green.)_ _

__Dawn sighed, “Okay CliffNotes - We blew up the Hellmouth to destroy the First and then Angel changed reality to stop a big bad PTB and rewrote shit so _She_ piggy-backed on the energy he used to put Sunnydale back the way it was only under Her Name so it’s protected and now the place needs guardians or something I’m not really sure but also I can see the other reality - the one She and Angel wrote over with their magick mojo - and it’s really confusing.”_ _

__They all stared at her and Dawn squirmed._ _

__“Oh yeah - and Anya’s dead and Cordy’s in a coma and I’m hoping we can fix that.”_ _

__“With Her Blessing,” Fei whispered._ _

__“And our power,” said Willow slowly._ _

__Dawn shrugged, “Basically.” She looked over her shoulder at the tattooed woman who was smiling oddly over at them and then stage-whispered, “Also it’s a pretty big deal that She’s here. She’s like… bigger than a PTB or something.”_ _

__“An Old One,” Minha rolled slightly on her rock as she said it. “There used to be a lot…” She reached out and ran her fingers through the woman’s hair. “Now there’s….”_ _

__“Just her?” Willow blurted out._ _

__“In Her Name,” Fei and Jia said in unison, their hands on their lips._ _

__“Older than the Powers that Be?” Buffy whispered. “I thought that was like… the end and the beginning or whatever.”_ _

__“Those infants!” The woman threw back her head and laughed. “They were mere babes crawling over themselves when I came to the peak of my power.”_ _

__“And there’s only you?” Faith couldn’t hide the scepticism out of her voice. You can’t just waltz in and rewrite her entire mythology (again) without some serious doubts._ _

__“I have three sisters.”_ _

__“But everyone just says In Her Name. There’s four of them, but no one knows their names anymore, and time has made them all one,” Minha said softly, an odd expression on her face. Faith wanted to say it was like wistfulness, but it wasn’t quite the right word._ _

__“Like the Goddess… the Wife, the Mother, the Maiden, the Crone!” Willow’s eyes shined the way they did when she had a research breakthrough._ _

__“More like Mi Hye, Hyo Jin, Hyo Jin, and Ga In,” Minha giggled._ _

__“Miryo,” the woman pointed at herself. “Our names have changed probably several hundreds of times, our numbers have grown and dwindled, there is always at least one. Now there are four. My sisters.”_ _

__“Crazy bats,” Minha muttered._ _

__Miryo ignored her, “Only _you_ bear my mark, which is why I brought you here.”_ _

__Jia blushed and tried to hide behind Fei._ _

__“Oh don’t worry - I won’t make you do anything just yet. My sisters collect Slayers for sport, I was very surprised when Minha brought word that you lived into the new age of a thousand Slayers.”_ _

__“Is that what they are calling it?” Willow whispered in awe._ _

__Dawn coughed, “We can’t stay here forever, we need to get this done before the magick fades and we can’t fix anything.”_ _

__“What magick, Dawnie?” Willow placed her hand on Dawn’s shoulder._ _

__“The magick overkill from Angel’s spell and the Hellmouth closing, the window to piggyback on that energy is closing fast and once it does… Anya’s gone for good and we can’t get her back.”_ _

__“You’re changing things for selfish reasons, Hyeonsil,” Miryo shook her head. “Remember I warned you against this.”_ _

__Dawn looked at the group fiercely, “Do you want to lose Anya? And Cordy? Do you?” They avoided her eyes, Willow turned bright red. Dawn turned on Miryo, “Do you want to be responsible for saving thousands and letting two die worthlessly?”_ _

__“Careful Hyeonsil, you aren’t the one in charge here,” Miryo intoned in a deadly voice._ _

__Dawn drew herself up, “Not _today_.”_ _

__Faith was pretty sure she had never been more proud or terrified of her little sister in that moment. She exchanged pointed looks with Buffy and saw the same facial expression reflected there._ _

__Yeah. They were all made from the same stuff.  
(It wasn’t all that comforting.)_ _

__

__

__Minha carefully arranged them in a circle: Faith - Dawn - Buffy - Willow - Fei - Jia._ _

__Miryo stood in the center and Faith was struck once again how _ancient_ and otherworldly she really was. _ _

__Behind her, Minha’s phone chimed, “Sorry to interrupt! But that’s Sera? We should probably check in with her before … er I mean after all this is done?” She waved her hands at the circle as if it was an inconvenient book club setting up in her living room._ _

__“Sara?” Faith tried to mentally calculate which of Miryo’s sisters took that name._ _

__“Sera,” Minha repeated. “My sister.” She looked up at their surprised faces, “What you think I take care of them _all_ by myself? I have sisters, too! Eight of them.” _ _

__“Handmaidens,” Miryo nodded to herself._ _

__“ _Muses_ ,” Minha hissed. _ _

__“Handmaidens,” Miryo repeated stubbornly (though Faith detected a small smile on the corners of her mouth)._ _

__“Mu--” Minha’s voice raised and then stopped short. “Oh whatever. You’re just trying to make me mad now.” She collapsed back onto the rock, muttering to herself._ _

__“In order to save your friends -” Miryo looked pointedly at Dawn, “and also bind the _magick_ as you call it, in place, I need all six of you.” She looked at each one of them. “You are all so very important. Don’t let my handmaiden’s sense of humor distract you from the serious of this place and this time. You,” she directed her gaze to Willow, “you cast a powerful spell that has started the Age of a Thousand Slayers. But your strength alone cannot bind this age intact for what is to come.”_ _

__Willow ducked her head and shuffled her feet, Buffy took her hand and squeezed it affectionately._ _

__“That kind of power is too large for one body. So, we have the Slayer marked in My Name and the twice-dead Slayer, to bind the spell to the Earth,” Miryo took Buffy and Jia’s palms in her hand, slicing them open with one of her long fingernails, their blood dripping into a cup she held beneath them. “The Warrior and the Earth bound in blood.”_ _

__“Two spirit and earth workers, one from the West and one from the East to bind the spell to the spirit and the Air,” Miryo reached out and plucked a hair from Fei and Willow’s heads and placed them in the cup. “Two women bound to Spirit with Air.”_ _

__“The Slayer bound to a demon, to maintain a balance between the Earth and Spirit,” Faith held her breath as Miryo kissed her on the lips and then blew into the cup. “The Fire of love burns in the blood of opposites and binds them together.”_ _

__“The girl who is the Key, my Hyeonsil, to bind them all together and make them true,” Dawn gave out a little sob and as she did so, Miryo caught a single tear into the cup. “Tears of the Transient one binds them all in one place, fluid and changeable as the tide and time.”_ _

__She caught Faith and Dawn’s hands in her own, “You are what binds them, you keep the peace, you keep the balance. You are both doubled and contradictory, you exist in two spaces at once and they keep you grounded.” Faith shook a little. That wasn’t supposed to be her. There must be some mistake! Miryo continued, “You will both _see_ \- I cannot protect you from it all.”_ _

__Dawn’s face seemed drained of all color, “The others, too? The ones asleep?”_ _

__Miryo cocked her head to one side, “Yes. Four will see. Four will not. Six to bind the spell, Two to break it one last time. Eight women bound to keep My Name Alive another day.”_ _

__She suddenly seemed very tired, her shoulders drooped slightly._ _

__She pressed the cup into Dawn’s hands, “Drink and then you will wake and all will be as I said.”_ _

__Dawn nodded._ _

__“Hold onto her or she may not come back with you.” Miryo started to walk away and then stopped, “Oh yes. Don’t call me. We’ll call you.” She put her arm around Minha’s shoulder - who waved, smiling, to them - and then they disappeared into the wind._ _

__

__They stood still for a moment._ _

__“Ready?” Dawn croaked. “I want to get the hell out of here.”_ _

__“And shower,” Jia said._ _

__“And _eat_ ,” Buffy groaned._ _

__They all giggled a bit and then crowded around Dawn, arms and hands all intertwined._ _

__“Here goes nothing.”_ _


	20. In which Jang Dongwoo learns some things about himself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dongwoo-centric

**In which Jang Dongwoo sees exactly as much as he should and we are grateful**

 

 

_Dongwoo was suddenly surrounded by ash and smoke and ruins. He could smell rot and death and decay all around him. There was only silence. The screaming and crying and worried voices were far behind him. He looked up to where Dawn had been standing and still saw her, ankle deep in ash, glowing with an almost green effervescence lingering all about her._

_She didn’t notice him. She was looking at the woman next to her._

_A woman with long, dark hair shaved just above her ears. On her exposed midriff were faintly discernable tattoos of swords. She was fierce and wild. She was the death around him and the light around him and the words beneath the silence._

_A creature more than a woman, but in the most evocative way possible._

_As if woman had been stripped down to her raw, monstrous, powerful, dangerous core._

_And she was looking right at him._

_You?_

 

 

 

Sometime later, much later, probably at Christmas time when the world is cold outside and it’s warm inside (or maybe its summer and the heat stays outside and they run in to feel a false chill) they’ll tell the story of the dancing demon. The one that Dawn (no! Xander!) summoned on almost-accident and just wanted a queen to take home. And Anya will tell a simple story about the one underworld-child bride deals that went well. Her eyes get that dreamy look she has when she talks about her demoning days. And he just has to sit there and listen to a story of a girl who was traded to a demon by her parents for a better life.

 

A story about a girl who was beautiful and terrifying.

 

(Anyanka was a maid of honor at the wedding. She tells Dongwoo this in private, because he’ll understand. Because he wants to know. He smiles when he hears of a seven year old girl with eyes of fire and a broad nose summoning a demon with her righteous anger. He glories in the story of Anyanka and Halfrek working together to seek the vengeance of a child abandoned by the selfishness of her parents, crossing dimensions because of the strength of a mere human girl.)

 

The wedding, she will tell them, was bright and cheerful and everyone was happy. Happier than anyone had ever been at a wedding like this. The child that walked down the aisle dazzled them like the sun. She wore a bright red dress (dipped in blood, Anya would whisper under her breath) and she married a child who loved her fiercely.

 

(The story was that her parents sold her and she never cried. The story was that she came to his palace and she wasn’t ever afraid. The story is that he cared for her like a daughter. The story is that she was wild and strange and the people loved her for it. The story is that she was the kingdom’s darling. The story is that she fell in love with his son. The story is that his son fell in love with a child bride from the human realm. The story is sharp teeth and frenzied dancing and a strange child who found a home where she shouldn’t have belonged.)

 

(The story, Anya whispers, is almost as beautiful as the wedding if you think about it.)

 

Sometime much later he’ll listen to the story of two young children so in love it transcended expectations and prejudices. Of a wedding between two frightening creatures who made each other sharper with their affection. Of a Queen and her King and their strength. And no one will notice his wistful smile and the tear he brushes away.

 

Anyway, that happens much, much later.

 

 

 

 

 

She looked at him, momentarily confused. Something feral in her eyes glinted strangely, like she was not at all accustomed to surprises and didn’t quite know how to respond to them.

 

 _You_?

 

“Me.”

 

Because fuck, nothing has been normal about the past 48 hours and if he was being honest, nothing really has been normal about his life up to and including that moment. Maybe he’s supposed to scream at the woman, something like _who are you_ and _what the fuck_ , but he doesn’t because she’s probably the scariest fucking sight he’s ever seen and anyway what’s the point? Maybe being here in the dust is the end. If not his life, then at least his grip on reality. Or on the nightmare.

 

And right when everything seemed to be slipping out of his grasp, a light lit up her eyes and he knew he was lost.

 

 _You_.

 

“Me?”

 

In a span of 30 seconds Jang Dongwoo went from knowing exactly who he was to losing it all.

 

Because when a creature that is timeless and raw reaches out her hand and presses it to your cheek as though you are the most precious thing she has ever seen and you see a tear lingering in the corner of her black eyes, everything changes and you no longer can be assured that you know yourself.

 

 

 

 

 

He blinked and when he opened his eyes instead of her face, he sees that he is standing in a quaint, and rather pink, living room. The kind your grandmother keeps, with lots of pillows and all the surfaces covered in pictures and knickknacks and a giant clock chiming in one corner. Somewhere in the distance is the sound of someone singing and the smell of food cooking. Dongwoo walks towards the sound and in short order finds a great big kitchen and an impossibly small woman sitting on the counter singing as another girl stirs something in a pot on the stove.

 

“Um?”

 

The girl cooking looks over at him, a sheen of confusion in her eyes for a moment, then her eyes light up and she gives him a bright smile, “You’re finally here!”

 

Of course it startles him when she discards her spoon and comes careening towards him. It surprises him less that she sprints _past_ him and into the arms of another girl behind him. He turns to watch them and flashes momentarily to Fei and Jia hugging after a long day. The woman sitting on the counter smiles rather abstractly, as though she is still waiting for someone or something, staring off into the distance in front of her and ignoring the two girls chattering happily just a few feet from her.

 

Arms slung lazily around each other’s waists, the two girls scoot past Dongwoo, their heads bent towards each other and whispering, the new arrival much taller than the other; younger, but no less graceful or self-assured.

 

“A charming scene, isn’t it?” a voice says at his elbow.

 

Dongwoo turns to see the woman from the desert scene he had only moments ago been whisked out of. She looked less fierce but just as otherworldly surrounded by ceramic cats and with the domestic sounds emanating from the kitchen. Her eyes searched his questioningly and he almost detected a slight sadness in them.

 

Before he could get a handle on why he felt so calmed by her presence, when by all rights he probably should have been terrified or at least mildly  confused rather than comforted, she stepped by him.

 

She walked right up to the woman at the counter and slid herself between the smaller woman’s legs, leaning to gently whisper in her ear, but never quite touching her. The woman on the counter’s eyes blinked into focus after a moment and they stood for a long moment just looking at each other, faces only inches apart, their hands slowly coming together to intertwine and dance on the air as if by habit.

 

When the woman on the counter’s face broke into a bright smile, it was as if a spell had broken and Dongwoo’s senses were suddenly overwhelmed with sound and scent and light again. Almost as if she was part of the very air.

 

It was in that moment, with that smile, that Dongwoo realized both women were equally terrifying and mysterious in their own right.

 

They leaned their foreheads onto each other’s and whispered softly.

 

“You took your sweet time coming back,” Dongwoo heard the shorter girl who had been cooking say sarcastically.

 

“You know how she gets,” the taller girl said with a nonchalant flip of her hair.

 

“I wish you’d at least answer my calls.”

 

“Kinda hard to get reception in that dimension and you know it, unnie.”

 

“That’s not true, I follow your Instagram you know.”

 

“She wouldn’t let me answer.”

 

“She doesn’t like me to call. I still do. Did you forget your job?”

 

“How could I? I’m the only one who will put up with her for so long as I have.”

 

“You love me,” the tattooed woman bit in.

 

“Just because I got tired of Narsha’s antics, doesn’t mean she wouldn’t take me back in a second.”

 

The girl stirring the pot gasped, “Minha! You wouldn’t!”

 

“No,” Minha said ruefully. “I probably wouldn’t. I do miss everyone though.”

 

“I called Sam last week to check in. She sends her regards,” the cook put in helpfully.

 

“Do you really want a vacation from me?” the tattooed woman said with something that Dongwoo supposed was meant to be a smile, but actually just looked like a feral animal baring their teeth.

 

Minha let out a long-suffering sigh, “As if you could last more than a couple of days without me.”

 

The women all collapsed into giggles and confused banter after that, the tattooed woman grabbing a towel and flicking it at the younger girls amusedly. During the conversation, she had turned her back to the counter, keeping herself between the other woman’s thighs, who had proceeded to wrap her arms around the tattooed woman and rested her head against her shoulder.

 

She was now staring rather owlishly at Dongwoo, the lost dreamy expression gone and replaced with mild amusement and genuine curiosity.

 

In the midst of what may have ended up being a full-out food fight, the woman on the counter finally said what was on Dongwoo’s mind, putting a temporary end to the festive air the four women had managed to create between them.

 

 “Why did you bring him with you, unnie?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dongwoo had a favorite story as a child. In the days that were blurry and dark and full of pain, there were still bright moments, small light memories that stood out against the ache of blackness.

 

There were other children in his dusty town.

 

Many like him, that took to the streets and rolled in the dirt and had their own laws and games that were far outside the imagination of their tired, overworked, addictive parents.

 

These children shared ghost stories and delicious tales of ghouls and demons. There was a sense of intense necessity to their tales.

 

As if they needed to know that their lives weren’t the darkness.

 

Some children hold onto the supposition of a brightness outside of their own reality. Faeries that are kind and gentle, spirits that give gifts and bestow wisdom and love. Other children have to believe that there is something worse, something darker, in order to keep going in the present.

 

Everyone has their own version of hope.

 

And in the midst of these convoluted stories of ghouls and faeries and spirits that can either grant wishes or drink your blood, depending upon the need of the child, there was one that Dongwoo’s childish mind latched onto and recited to himself again and again to himself in the dark.

 

The story of a family ripped apart and always seeking each other.

 

The story of a girl raised by the wrong parents, ripped from the bosom of her immortal mother by circumstance and left in the hands of the worst kind of people. Who sought vengeance against her family for their wrong doing and is said to have fallen in love with a demon. Who left the world of her birth to seek conquest in another realms. Who gave birth secretly to a son both of her world and her mother’s might; human and yet not. Lost one night in a tragic accident and still sought for by both mother and grandmother. Lost in the mortal realm and waiting to be woken to his true destiny.

 

A story a child told himself in the night as a form of comfort when there was none to be found.

 

A story that still lingered in the heart of a grown man covered in scars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s not the thing he’d ever expected to be told was true, sitting on a bright pink couch with a woman not even old enough to be his mother pressing a mug of hot soup in his hands and saying things like, _grandmother_ and _looking for you_ and _powerful_.

 

 

 

 

 _It isn’t the dancing_ , Ga In will later tell him with her soft voice and bright eyes. That’s a surprise to everyone.

 

It makes him unique, they tell him with bright smiles.

 

He’s covered in hugs and coddled and teased because he’s family and _oh wait until you meet all the aunties!_

 

 

 

 

 

“You were lost for so long,” his grandmother says with tears clinging to her long lashes.

 

“How long?” he dares to ask, because it feels like an eternity.

 

“Forever,” she replies with a grimace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’ll be research parties he’s sure. He needs to tell the others eventually. Miryo – who refuses to be called grandmother by anyone, even her own long lost grandson – says that they’ll need to know and that he is an asset and is important.

 

But Sera interrupts sternly and says all that can wait. That he can choose. That it’s his life.

 

And Minha nods solemnly from her perch on his armchair, her long nails dancing on his arm.

 

And the Old Ones agree and he understands for the first time why things such Ancient things need handmaidens in their midst.

 

 

 

 

 

 

They call in Sam from her post and all play charades.

 

Because finding out that you are an immortal half-demon with family in all the legends of your childhood calls for some normalcy. (Or at least, that’s what Sera tells him very kindly before she sends him off to bed for the night with a kiss on the cheek and a smile.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	21. epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> thank you to everyone who has been reading this from the beginning. I may add some more to this universe later - but probably not anytime soon. it's been a blast but I'm hanging up my Noona-hat. Love you all!

When Dawn finally makes it up to her room, she’s not surprised to find Spike sitting in her desk chair, casually reading her worn-out copy of _Sloppy Firsts_. 

It’s been a little over two hours since she woke up, since Anya came stumbling down the stairs, since Angel ran back to LA because Fred had called hysterically saying Cordy was awake, two hours since their world ended. There was food – way too much food – and there was talking and laughing and laughing. There was a stilted conversation with Castiel and Dongwoo on the back porch that she needed a solid 72 hours of sleep before she could truly come to terms with it. 

There was very little strategic or war-planning.

That would probably happen in the morning.

When they all realized that She had enlisted them into a war that they were probably not ready for.

There was a soft kiss on the porch from a boy with soft hands and small eyes and huge expectations. She’d think about that tomorrow, too. 

When she wasn’t worn out from her body suddenly becoming the whole world.

And all she wanted to do now was wrap herself up in an old t-shirt and sleep like the dead. And there was a vampire sitting in her room, looking at her expectantly. People wanted to think that vampires were human. Dawn liked to think of Spike as an overgrown cat.

And as anyone who owns a cat knows, cats can be serious creepers.

She throws a towel over his head, _I’m changing and I’m ignoring you._

To his credit, he doesn’t move the towel, make a barbed comment, or really do anything at all except continue reading. 

And when Buffy walks in just as Dawn is standing there in her underwear, pulling a shirt over her head. 

_Hey Dawnie I’m --_ there’s a short pause and Dawn can sense a small bit of movement from the Spike-shaped towel behind her. _I’m back from patrol and I managed to convince Fei to host breakfast for everyone tomorrow. Also Faith and Ruby decided to crash there instead of on our couch – thank god because Faith is such a slob._

_Kinda like you?_

_And Giles is going to stay in London to do research or something. And I got a call from Cordy, she wants us to bring the kids down to LA this summer and go to Disneyland. Which I think is a great idea, and Faith already volunteered to stay in Sunnydale to keep an eye on things so we can have a vacation._

_Vacations are awesome and also I’m making Woohyun challenge Gaston to arm-wrestle,_ Dawn hummed as she crawled under the blankets, shoving her sister over who had fallen spread-eagle on the bed. 

_That’ll be great. Hoya will be laughing his butt off the whole time,_ Buffy giggled as she abandoned her shoes on the floor and wrestled the blanket away from Dawn in order to slip under with her. _It was really great to hear Cordy’s voice, it’s been a long time._

Dawn turned on her side to face her sister, _Everyone kinda had apocalypses to deal with._

_Did you see Will after we left?_

_She was cleaning the already Fei-cleaned kitchen when I came upstairs._

Buffy chewed on her lip, _I keep thinking about Tara… like if all of this had just happened a year earlier…_

Dawn shook her head, _I’m trying really hard not to think about that; or about anything else we lost from that empty year. Last year seems like a blur, right? Like nothing fits together._

_I remember you putting bananas on a Papa Murphy’s pizza and it wasn’t as gross as I thought it’d be… or maybe I was just so tired…_

A towel hit her in the face, _It was disgusting and you complained about it for at least three weeks._ The vampire crawled up on the bed, curling his limbs around Buffy and propping his head up on his elbow to look down on them with a shit-eating grin on his face, as he pulled the towel off Buffy’s face, _I’m the one that insisted it wasn’t all that bad._

Buffy wrinkled her nose, _Stupid vampire taste buds. You dipped that pizza in your blood-and-hot-sauce-and-ranch blend and I made you eat in the dining room by yourself._

 _So we do remember some things._ Dawn laughed. _Is this what it was like when I came?_

They were all quiet for a minute.

_I didn’t have any memories of you, guess the monks decided I wasn’t important enough. When I saw you the first time you were **you** and I just assumed I’d never noticed you before._

Buffy reached out and grabbed Dawn’s hand, _Doesn’t matter. We have you. We have Anya and Cordy. And a herd of new people apparently. And like… a divine calling? Doesn’t matter how we all got here._

_What the hell is going on in here?_

Dawn looked over Buffy’s shoulder at the witch standing in her doorway, _I think we’re cuddling? ___

___Cool,_ and Willow was angling herself behind Dawn, hugging her from behind. _Can we tease you about your new boyfriend now, or are all being end-of-the-world-y serious?__ _

__Dawn groaned, _Let’s leave it for the morning.__ _

___No way,_ Buffy crowed. _This is way more fun.__ _

___He’s **smitten**_ , Willow squealed in Dawn’s ear._ _

___This is way too much for me,_ Spike said as he untangled himself from Buffy and hedged towards the door._ _

__He left them giggling and teasing a blushing Dawn. Twenty minutes later, just as the sun started to rise, he came in to hand-deliver some rocky road and found all three girls asleep, a mass of limbs and hair tangled around each other._ _

__He snapped a picture and sent it to Woohyun._ _

___ladies can’t even wait for their ice cream_ _ _

__A picture of Dongwoo and Sungyeol fast asleep with their mouths hanging open came back within seconds._ _

___losers couldn’t even wait for their man_ _ _

__Spike’s loud bark of laughter at that gifted him with three pillows being thrown at his face (only one struck) and then resulted in lots of whining about how they needed those pillows._ _

__

__

__***_ _

__

__In Los Angeles, Cordelia was looking out over the skyline of the city from her room in the Hyperion, Angel snoring in the background. She was thinking about the things she had learned during her time as a PTB._ _

__And all the work that she now had to do.  
(And all the phone calls that needed to be placed to other dimensions, she’d have to talk to Fred about that in the morning.)_ _

__

__

__***_ _

__

__In a dark alley in Detroit, Castiel was waiting for an informant and pacing restlessly. He probably shouldn’t be having this conversation – but someone needed to know that the _Claustrum_ was starting to awaken and the changes that were on the horizon._ _

__It wasn’t going to make the angels happy.  
This was a very different kind of Apocalypse than the one they were working towards._ _

__

__He’d have to pick a side eventually._ _

__

__A sound of rustling feathers fills the air._ _

__

__

__***_ _

__

__In a dreamscape, Dongwoo played and danced and sang with his grandmother and the other women that she had pulled together to form a family. In the morning, everything was going to change._ _

__He tried to pretend that waking up wasn’t going to change everything._ _

__He didn’t let himself think about the hearts he was bound to break._ _

__Dongwoo danced and sang with his grandmother in a dream.  
And didn’t think about waking up._ _


End file.
